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Islanders are being encouraged to take a festive 5k walk to raise money for vulnerable children.
The NSPCC's ‘Walk for Children’ aims to raise awareness and funds for the charity, which delivered a record number of counselling sessions about loneliness over the festive period last year, and support the free Childline service.
In 2020/21, Childline volunteers provided over 200,000 counselling sessions to children and young people across the UK.
The NSPCC estimates that 500 of the sessions were with children living in Jersey and Guernsey.
Pictured: The Childline service is available for children every day, even on Christmas Day.
The charity also revealed that loneliness is particularly affecting younger children.
In 2020/21, there was a 47% increase in counselling sessions with children aged 11 and under when compared to the previous year.
Dame Esther Ranzen, Founder of Childline, said: “The festive period can be especially difficult for children who are struggling with their mental health or are in homes that are unsafe."
Pictured: NSPCC Jersey are encouraging islanders to get together with family or friends to complete the 5k festive fundraiser.
She continued: “Given the impact of the pandemic, it is no surprise that this year we’ve seen record numbers of children get in touch with us about loneliness. The lockdowns exacerbated these feelings for some young people, especially when schools had to close, and they couldn’t see the friends and family they loved and needed.
“Last Christmas was one of the toughest in living memory, bringing with it great sadness and challenges for many children. So we need to remind them that Childline is still there for them, and that they can contact us by phone or on-line, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”
In Jersey, NSPCC volunteers and staff also offered a wrapping service in de Gruchy in the run up to Christmas, along with entertainment from choirs and bands to raise money.
To sign up for the ‘Walk with Children’ fundraiser on the NSPCC website, CLICK HERE.
You can use the promotional code 'JERSEY' for half price registration.
Young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or via 1-2-1 chat on www.childline.org.uk
Childline also has a huge online community where children can get support from their peers on message-boards and use expert resources to help them through any issue they are concerned about.
If adults are worried about children they can get advice from NSPCC practitioners on 0808 800 5000 or help@nspcc.org.uk
In Jersey, both preventative and therapeutic programmes are delivered from their service centre in Stopford Road, St Helier. If you would like to find out more about these services, get in touch by ringing 760800 or email jerseyservicecentre@nspcc.org.uk
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