Vital service available for children

The NSPCC’s ChildLine service in Northern Ireland is urging young people who are struggling with any problems over the summer holidays to get in touch and share them in confidence.

The summer holidays should be an exciting and fun time but for some young people issues like abuse, family relationship problems, bullying and loneliness still exist outside of term time.

Paddy Shannon, Head of ChildLine in Northern Ireland, said: “The summer holidays for many children means playing with friends, going on family holidays and days out. But for some young people the school holidays can be a difficult time.”

He added: “Family relationship problems and bullying are the two main reasons why young people called ChildLine in Northern Ireland last year. These problems don’t stop just because school has and there may be some young people across Northern Ireland who are struggling through the holidays. We are urging young people not to keep their problems to themselves and speak to a ChildLine counsellor in confidence.”

Young people can get in contact with ChildLine by calling 0800 11 11 or by visiting www.childline.org.uk where they can get one-to-one online counselling, send ChildLine an email and write on message boards. There is also lots of advice and information on the site as well fun games and creative tools.