During 2009, more 9,000 calls were answered by the 25 volunteers and 11 trainees at the Childline office in Castlebar, which was only established in March of that year.
Nationally over half a million calls were answered by Childline in 2009, an increase of 150,000 on 2008. In response to these distressing figures, Westlife is helping the ISPCC’s Childline service to launch its Who’s Calling awareness initiative, the aim of which is to highlight the difficulties with which Ireland’s children are contacting Childline.
“We are delighted to have the support of Westlife as we try to listen to even more children in 2010,” said ISPCC CEO Ashley Balbirnie. “The pressures of the past year were clearly felt by young people in Ireland who, rather than placing further burden on their families, appear to be sourcing external supports like the Childline service.”
