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Happy birthday ChildLine!

ChildLine came to life in October 1986. Starting out as a single phone number young people could call if they were experiencing abuse, we’ve come a long way since then. 

ChildLine has information and advice on a whole range of issues. As well as calling 0800 1111, you can now email a counsellor, have a 1-2-1 chat online, use Ask Sam or get help and support from other young people on the message boards. Videos and games are here to take your mind off things or you can express how you feel through the creative tool. 

Our promise to you

ChildLine is your service. We aim to do everything we can to make sure that ChildLine is always there for you, in whatever way you need us. However, there are key ingredients of the service that will always remain the same:

You can feel safe talking to us

Image of a girl blowing confetti to celebrate ChildLine's birthday

ChildLine is private and confidential.
Confidentiality means not telling anyone else about what you’ve said.

It means that you can feel safe talking to us about something that is happening to you, knowing that no one else will find out. If you want to keep things private, you can. Read
about our confidentiality promise 
or how to hide your visits to the ChildLine website.

You won't be judged

Our friendly counsellors understand the sorts of problems you might be worried about and are trained to help. They won’t judge you or put you down and they are not easily shocked. Instead, they will listen and help you think about your options. Find out who you will talk to and what you might say.

You can contact us for free

Calling ChildLine on 0800 1111 is free from all telephone boxes, house phones and landlines as well as mobile phones.
Our name or number won’t show up on a phone bill so others will not know that you have called us.

We can help in different ways

You can:

Call free on 0800 1111 anytime

Speak to a counsellor through
1-2-1 chat online (like msn)

Email a ChildLine counsellor

Ask Sam a question or read what others have said

Get advice from other young people on the message boards

Visit the explore section for helpful information on different topics.

Watch videos, play games or get creative to take your mind off things.

We are available 24 hours a day

If you are worried about anything, it could be something big or something small - don't bottle it up. It can really help if you talk to someone.

You are not alone - we are here for you whenever you need us, 24/7.

Find out what contacting ChildLine is like.

A big thank you


We've come a long way in 25 years, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without your help. Visit the get involved section for the latest news, competitions and celebrity support!

Get support on the message boards


'Everyone helps each other out and is going through the same things as me – it’s a really welcoming place'

Some interesting facts about ChildLine
Image of a girl holding ChildLine balloons

What ChildLine means to you

  • Here are a few things you had to say on the message boards:

    "ChildLine means I can keep going, through anything because I know, whatever happens, there’s someone out there who can help me put it right."

    "No problem is too big or too small! They listen when I am ranting on about a little thing that doesn’t matter!!"

    "ChildLine has not only changed my life, but it has also saved my life so many times!"

    "ChildLine means I know I am not the problem, that all the stuff that happens isn't my fault, that I’ve done nothing wrong."

    "I’m new to ChildLine today and it has got me through the day. Never again will I have to face the world alone because I know ChildLine is here."

    "The ChildLine message boards have become like a family to me. Everyone looks out for each other and I feel like I have support and security, even when things in my real world aren't going great."

    "ChildLine is my Lifeline"

    "If it wasn’t for ChildLine I don’t think I would be here"

    If you would like to tell us how ChildLine has helped you, please post on the,
    'What does ChildLine mean to you' message board.

  • A big thank you

    When you post a message on the boards or reply to a thread, not only are you helping the person you are writing to, but hundreds of other young people who might read it. Your comments, feedback and ideas have helped us make the ChildLine website a better place and we would like to say a huge thank you to you all.

    We wouldn’t be where we are today without your help.
    Visit the get involved section for the latest news, competitions and celebrity support.

Get talking

Talk to us


Everyone has issues in their life - ChildLine listens to them all. Take a look at our video about contacting ChildLine and how we can help.

ChildLine means the world to me

What does ChildLine mean to you? Take a look at the message boards to read what you've been saying.

Message boards: What does ChildLine mean to you?

Confidentiality promise


Visit our confidentiality page for more information

I'd like to find out more about...


The explore section of the ChildLine website has information on a whole range of issues.

Contacting ChildLine

Would you feel comfortable contacting ChildLine about something that is worrying you?

 
 
 
 
 
Happy birthday ChildLine! 

Accessibility

We want to make sure everyone can access the information provided on this site

We've put together a few tips and help for you. Please send us a message if you can't find what you're looking for. Or you have a suggestion of something we could include.

Using the keyboard instead of the mouse.
As well as using the tab key to navigate through the screen, the ChildLine website has special access keys:

Alt+S = skip navigation
Alt+1 = home
Alt+0 = accessibility information.

Is the text size too large or too small?
You can change your text settings through your browser options:

In Internet Explorer, go to View > Text size and select your desired text size setting (eg, larger, smaller).

In Firefox, go to View > Text size and increase/decrease using Ctrl and + or -

If you have a scroll wheel on your mouse, you can hold down Ctrl and scroll back or forth to increase or decrease the font size in both IE and Firefox.

Changing your computer screen settings
To change the size of the image shown on your screen on a PC running Windows 95 and upwards, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Settings and change the desktop area by using the sliding bar.

On an Apple Mac, you can use the Monitor & Sound Control Panel to change the resolution.

Having difficulty with your keyboard or mouse?
You can fine-tune your mouse and keyboard settings under Start > Settings > Control Panel > Accessibility in Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and XP.

Skipping navigation for talking browsers and screen readers
For speech browsers, you can press Alt and S followed by Enter to skip navigation on our pages.

The site is W3C level A compliant.

Help

This page contains help and advice.  If you need to contact ChildLine please go to the Talk to us page

Search for something on the website
To search for something on the website, type what you want to find in the search box on the navigation of the site.

Games

To play the games on the ChildLine site, you will need to have Adobe Flash installed.  If you don't have it installed on your computer, you can download Adbobe Flash for free here (this link will take you to another website).

Some games can be played using your keyboard and some are played using your mouse.  the instructions on the right of the games will tell you how each game is played.

How to use the video player

To watch a video, click on the ‘play’ button at the bottom left of the video player. It is shaped like a small triangle.  You can pause the video once it is playing, by clicking on this button again, which will now be a ‘pause’ button, which looks like a number eleven – ‘11’. 

You can change the volume of the sound on the video by clicking on the ‘volume control’ button, on the bottom right of the video player.  If you click directly on the picture of the speaker, the sound will turn off completely. 

If you would like to see the video displayed in a full screen, you can click on the full screen button which is the last button on the bottom right of the video player.  To exit the full screen mode you can press ‘escape’ on the keyboard, or click the ‘close full screen’ button on the bottom right hand side of the video player.

This page contains information about a competition. If you need to contact ChildLine please go to the Talk to us page

Search for something on the website
To search for something on the website, type what you want to find in the search box on the navigation of the site.