Childline: NSPCC seeking volunteers to help keep more children safe

All volunteers receive training and support from NSPCC staff and only need to commit a few hours a month.

Every child deserves a happy and safe childhood, and our Childline service is here to offer support to young people whenever they need it.

Children everywhere need to know they can speak out when something’s wrong, and how to recognise that they might need help and support.

One of the ways the NSPCC helps them understand this is through Speak out, Stay safe – a programme run by volunteers and our Schools Service for five to 11-year-olds across the UK.

The programme uses age-appropriate language to help children understand abuse in all its forms and how to recognise the signs; that abuse is never a child’s fault and that they have a right to be safe; and where to get help including the NSPCC’s Childline service.

Across the North East and Yorkshire, our Schools Service teams reached more than 199,200 children in 856 schools in 2024/25, delivering vital safeguarding messages through fun, lively and interactive assemblies and workshops.

On average, two children in every primary school class have experienced abuse or neglect. This is why it’s so important that we help children to understand and give them the tools so they can access the support that they might need.

Our Childline counsellors are here to help every child who contacts us, but some children experiencing abuse might not know that what is happening is wrong or they might be scared about speaking out.

By helping them to recognise the signs of abuse, we can enable them to share their concerns with a trusted adult as soon as they are worried about something.

It’s brilliant that so many children have received the valuable messages from Speak out, Stay safe, but we want to keep even more children safe and the NSPCC needs volunteers across the North East to do this.

All volunteers receive training and support from NSPCC staff, only need to commit a few hours a month, and don’t need to have experience of working with children. They just need to be passionate about helping children, have great communication skills and work well in a team.

To find out more about volunteering, go to https://join-us.nspcc.org.uk/volunteers/volunteers/schools/, and primary schools can sign up to Speak out, Stay safe at https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/speak-out-stay-safe