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What you'll do
As a Childline volunteer you'll be there for young people when they feel they have no one else to turn to, by giving a regular shift of up to 4 hours each week at one of our 12 Childline bases across the UK.
As a Childline switchboarder, you’ll be the first warm and friendly voice young people hear when they call up for support, you’ll reassure them and put them through to a Childline counsellor so they can get support.
Our trained volunteer counsellors listen and respond to young people who have got in touch via phone, online chat or email. Our counsellors support young people whatever is worrying them, whether it’s bullying, abuse, self-harm or family relationships.
As a Childline administrator, you’ll work alongside other Childline volunteers and use your organisational skills to offer administrative support to a Childline base – making sure daily tasks run as smoothly as possible.
You’ll be on hand to take care of tasks such as, helping staff prepare for training sessions, organising volunteer packs, photocopying training materials and sorting out any post as well as handling other essential administrative duties.
Volunteer today and join our fight for every childhood
How you'll help children
Our Childline service is a confidential place for children to contact – over the phone or online – whatever their worry. We couldn’t keep the service running 24/7 without the help of our volunteers.
There were over 250,000 Childline counselling sessions with children and young people last year
Source: Childline
Explanation: Childline provided 250,281 counselling sessions to children and young people in 2018/19.
What you'll get out of it
As a Childline volunteer you’ll get the opportunity to:
- learn valuable new skills
- be part of a friendly team of like-minded people
- be there for children across the country.
Key details
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Role titles |
Childline switchboarder, Childline counsellor, Childline email counsellor, Childline night service counsellor, Deaf Childline volunteer counsellor, Childline administrator |
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Activity type |
Volunteering with children Administrative support |
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Location |
Available in 12 UK locations: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Foyle, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Nottingham, Prestatyn, Salford |
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Commitment |
4 hours per week (plus initial training) Minimum commitment of 12 months |
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Availability |
Shifts available 24 hours a day |
Not right for you?
There are so many ways to get involved and help children, and we’d love to have you on our team.
Whether you can spare an hour or two, or want to get involved more often, whatever time you can give is invaluable.
Training and support
You’ll receive training to prepare you for the role and a supervisor will be around at all times to support you during and after your shifts. Every shift includes a briefing and debriefing alongside other volunteers. Supervisors will also give you regular one-to-one support and group supervision.
Volunteer counsellors receive training sessions over 11 weeks and volunteer switchboarders have one training session before they get started.
Who's right for the role?
While we think our Childline roles are suitable for a whole range of people, we are particularly looking for those with the following qualities and experience:
- passionate about helping young people and children
- great communication skills
- empathetic and perceptive
- able to think on your feet
- works well within a team
- emotional resilience.
Signing up to be a Childline volunteer is a big commitment and requires training so we do ask people to stay in the role for a minimum of one year.
We’ll also need to do some routine safeguarding checks. It’s nothing to worry about, and we can answer any questions you have about this.
Still have questions?
Speak to our team for more information on our volunteer roles.
Call: 0121 227 7577
