NSPCC launches £50m appeal to boost child protection helplines

The NSPCC has launched an appeal to raise £50m to expand its child protection helplines for adults reporting abuse and children on the receiving end.

The NSPCC Helpline currently receives 95,000 calls a year from adults concerning children suffering abuse or at risk of it, but of those 15,000 go unanswered.

The appeal is designed to ensure the charity can take enquiries from 18,000 more adults each year, while the NSPCC is also looking to expand its ChildLine service, which takes calls from children enduring abuse, by 500,000 calls a year.

The charity said 10,000 calls to the NSPCC Helpline last year were so serious that they required urgent action, and 7,000 children were helped as a result.

Recent calls included reports of a nine-year-old with a gun placed in his mouth and a young mother dangling a two-year-old child by the wrist from a second-floor window.

The NSPCC Helpline can be reached on 0808 800 5000 and ChildLine on 0800 1111.

• For a review of the ad and questions raised by the spend, see Outside Left


• What do you think of the NSPCC’s advertising strategy? Could the money be better spent? Join the debate at Community Care’s online discussion forum CareSpace

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