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Contact the NSPCC Helpline

You can contact our Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing [email protected].

Our voice Helpline is available 10am–4pm Monday to Friday. You can email [email protected] at any time for free. You have the option to remain anonymous.

If we have not yet responded to you and your concerns for the safety of a child increase, please contact the police or local Children’s Services directly. Please be assured that we'll action all contacts that our Helpline receives.

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Under 18?

Childline offers free, confidential advice and support whatever your worry, whenever you need help.

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Childline delivers thousands of counselling sessions about sexuality and gender identity

Our free, confidential service is here to support children and young people on all kinds of issues, from coming out to sexuality.

    • In 2025/2026, Childline delivered almost 2,500 counselling sessions to children and young people with issues or concerns around sexuality and gender identity.
    • More than two in five (43%) of these counselling sessions were about coming out.
    • This Pride Month, Childline is reminding young people that the service is a confidential place to turn to for help and support, whatever their concern.

As Pride Month takes place, Childline is urging children and young people with worries about sexuality and gender identity issues to reach out for support.

Last year, the NSPCC service delivered 2,457 counselling sessions to children and young people struggling with these concerns.

For children receiving support from Childline on the topic of sexuality and gender identity issues, coming out was the biggest worry – making up more than 40% of the counselling sessions.1

Young people contacting the service about coming out told counsellors that they’re worried about their parents’ reaction, being alienated from friendship groups and having difficulties with their mental health as a result.

One boy, aged 17, told the service: “I’ve only recently started accepting myself as gay after years of bullying. I’ve been freaking out that my parents will find out, because yesterday my cousin texted me saying that they know about me. I’m out at school, but I’m not ready for my whole family to know. I was planning to wait until I moved to college to tell them. I feel like I’m losing control.”2

When contacting Childline to talk about sexuality and gender identity, other concerns for young people included:

    • Questioning sexuality or gender identity,
    • Discrimination or prejudice,
    • Experiencing gender dysphoria, which saw a 20% increase in counselling sessions.3

Where gender was known, almost two-thirds (64%) of these counselling sessions were with young people who identify as transgender or non-binary.4

Shaun Friel, Childline Director, said: “Young people face many difficulties and worries when it comes to sexuality and gender identity. 

“At Childline, we regularly hear from those who are scared to come out; expressing anxieties about being judged by their family or alienated by a friend group that doesn’t accept them. We also hear from trans and nonbinary children who feel that they will never be accepted if they come out and that the world is against them.

“This Pride Month, we want to reassure all children that they can reach out to Childline as their authentic selves. Childline is here to be a confidential, and wholly accepting space, where young people can discuss their concerns and feelings freely.” 

This year, the NSPCC and Lidl GB will be marching together at four major Prides, including London. The retailer is also sponsoring the charity to have a presence at Pride for the fourth year in row, meaning it will attend 15 events up and down the country in support of LGBTQ+ young people. 

Childline: supporting children and young people

Childline is here for children and young people up to and including the age of 18. Support is available through a phone call, 
121 chat or email. 

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References

1. In 2025/26, Childline delivered 2,457 counselling sessions where the young person’s main concern was sexuality and gender identity.  Of these, 1,060 counselling sessions (43%) discussed “coming out” 

2. Snapshots are based on real Childline service users, but are not necessarily direct quotes. All names and potentially identifying details have been changed to protect the identity of the child or young person involved.  

3. Counselling sessions relating to gender dysphoria saw the biggest increase among these sub-concerns, up 20% year-on-year (from 396 counselling sessions in 24/25 to 476 in 25/26). Gender dysphoria is a feeling of distress that can happen when a person’s gender identity differs from their biological sex. 

4. A child’s gender was known in 68% of all counselling sessions about Sexuality and Gender Identity. Of these, 64% of counselling sessions were with young people who identified as transgender or non-binary, 22% with girls, and 14% with boys.