Government awards £11.2million in grants for NSPCC and ChildLine helplines

Children's Minister, Tim Loughton (pictured), has announced that the NSPCC will be awarded a grant worth £11.2 million over the period 2011-2015 for continued investment in ChildLine and the NSPCC HelpLine.

The NSPCC Helpline is the only UK service offering anonymous and free access to trained child protection staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It provides specialist support, advice, counselling and information for anyone with concerns about a child who is either being abused or is at risk of being abused.

The grant will enable us to help even more children who ask for advice and support, and protect those at risk of harm through developing our ChildLine and NSPCC Helpline services. We can continue to offer children and young people counselling by voice, online and by text and ensure that adults with concerns about a child have someone to turn to 24 hours a day.

Andrew Flanagan, CEO of the NSPCC, said: "We are grateful to the government for extending their support for our helplines. Last year ChildLine counsellors dealt with over 500,000 calls and online contacts from children whose worries included physical violence, sexual abuse, neglect, bullying and mental health issues. The NSPCC Helpline answered more than 30,000 calls and emails from adults concerned about the welfare of a child.

"This grant will enable us to continue to provide vital services for children and young people over the next four years."

If you think a child is suffering from any form of abuse, you should call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000. The service can be totally anonymous and the only details taken are those that will help us identify the child. By contacting us we can decide the right thing to do on your behalf.