THE ISPCC have experienced an increase in the number of children contacting them this year, and are appealing for volunteers to help cope with demands.
The Limerick branch of the society is urgently looking for volunteers to answer calls during evenings and weekends, as annual statistics show that 78 per cent of calls were answered outside the standard working hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Childline supervisor at the ISPCC, Meadhbh Terry, told The Limerick Post: “The unit in Limerick is open six days a week and we need volunteers most urgently for Fridays and Saturdays.
“No qualifications or previous experience are required, it is just necessary to enjoy being around children and to be interested in helping and supporting them.
“Saturday is our busiest day as there are no other services available to children on this day. Social workers don’t work on Saturdays.
“Childline operates 24 hours a day all year round, and we do our best to answer every call. Christmas day was one of our busiest days last year-we had more than 600 calls”.
During 2009, Childline celebrated 21 years of providing a confidential phone service to all children in Ireland.
This year, two new mediums of communication have also been introduced to the service; text and web support.
For free text support young people can text “Talk” to 50101, and a trained volunteer will text back.
Web based support called ‘One to One’ can be accessed from www.childline.ie.
A young person can also post a message on the Childline message board on www.childline.ie. These messages are also responded to by trained volunteers.
The ISPCC in Limerick also provides the Teenfocus service, offering mentoring and counselling to young people aged between 13 and 18, who are at risk of misusing drugs and alcohol or who are experiencing challenges at home, in school or just finding it hard to cope.
Information evenings will be taking place throughout August providing information about what is involved in becoming a volunteer.
Anyone interested in volunteering or looking for further information can contact the ISPCC in Limerick.
Pictured – Limerick ISPCC Staff, Louise Wilkinson, Teen Focus, Maedhbh Terry, Childline Supervisor and Suzanne Slattery, Fundraising Department.
