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Childline 40
Childline is celebrating its 40th birthday this month. Find out about how we started and all the different ways Childline can support you now.
Childline's History
Childline's Launch
Childline was founded by Dame Esther Rantzen, as you may have heard she sadly passed away recently. She produced and presented a TV programme called ‘Childwatch’ which was about child abuse. Following the programme there were many calls from children which showed the need for a children’s helpline.
Childline was launched on 30th October 1986, in a room provided by British Telecom (BT) in London. That night there were 50, 000 attempted calls. Dame Esther than secured a London office for Childline from BT, a free phone number and for a Childline sticker to be placed in every telephone box in the country.
In Childline’s first 3 years they counselled 81,000 children. In 1989 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Childline and famously said ‘You call this Childline, I call it a lifeline.’
Our founder Dame Esther Rantzen
A child making a phone call from a phone box
The 1990s
This decade saw the expansion of Childline from our one office in London to having offices around the UK, with the following launches taking place.
- 1990 – Childline Scotland in Glasgow
- 1992 – Childline North-West in Manchester
- 1992 – Childline Wales in Rhyl
- 1993 – Childline Swansea
- 1997 – Childline Yorkshire and North East in Leeds
- 1999 – Childline Northern Ireland in Belfast
In 1996 Princess Diana launched Childline's 10th anniversary appeal which raised £7 million.
By 1999 Childline had counselled it’s 1 millionth child.
Princess Diana at the launch of Childline's 10th birthday appeal
Dame Esther Rantzen talking to one of the Childline counsellors
The 2000s
- 2002 – The Birmingham counselling base was opened
- 2004 – Childline Scotland North and North-East was opened in Aberdeen
- 2007 – The Liverpool and Foyle counselling bases were opened
- 2008 - The Rhyl base was moved to Prestatyn
In 2003 Childline acted as the technical advisor in the establishment of Child Helpline International. It's a network of 160 children’s helplines which cover 140 countries.
In 2005 Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh became Childline’s first royal patron. In 2006 Childline became part of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
In 2009 the Childline website was launched so now young people could talk to a counsellor by 1-2-1 chat or by sending a message.
The 2010s
In 2011 the Swansea base was moved to Cardiff.
In 2013 Childline launched its first app Zipit which gave young people ways to cope with the pressure to send nudes. By the end of the year it had over 20, 000 downloads
By 2015 Childline had counselled 4 million children. In 2016 Childline started providing counselling in BSL for deaf children using Sign Video. Childline also launched a more mobile accessible website.
The 2020s
2020 saw schools and other children’s services close down because of the lockdown. During this time Childline still managed to stay open to support young people 24/7.
2021 saw Childline introduce our chat bot Cubie to support young people whilst they wait for a 1-2-1 chat. We also launched Report Remove which young people can use to get nude images of them removed from the internet.
The Childline website has also been improved with the introduction of new coping tools such as the Calm Zone and the Coping Kit.
Childline has now counselled over 6 million children.
Messages from people Childline's helped
We spoke to some of the people who used Childline when they were children and asked if they had any messages for you.
‘Childline stopped me from being alone in the darkest moment of my life. The person at the end of that phone undoubtedly saved my life just by being there.
I want young people who are thinking of calling Childline to know that those few moments of fear whilst you dial the number and wait to be connected, are so so worth it. As long as Childline exists, you don’t have to deal with anything alone.
I want everyone to know that there are people out there, like me, that are only alive because Childline exists. There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not grateful for the person who picked up that phone.’
Hollie
‘I will always feel thankful to Childline. They helped me understand the abuse I was experiencing and gave me the courage to tell my parents. That courage changed my life.’
Melanie
‘I want other young people to know that Childline is there to listen and there is so much help available. People will be on your side. I think it’s important to know that there is always going to be somebody there to help you, and there’s always hope.’
Ash
‘The people on the other end of the phone really want to help you. They'll listen and they won't judge. You'll almost certainly feel better and more able to deal with the problem after the call.’
Matt
Childline's here for you
As you can see a lot has changed at Childline since it was launched 40 years ago. One thing that will never change is our commitment to support young people. You can talk to one of our counsellors any time by calling 0800 1111, having a 1-2-1 chat, sending a message and using Sign Video to talk in British Sign Language. Please remember that no problem is too big or too small.
There also lots of other ways that can Childline can support you. If you need advice we have over 100 advice pages and you can also read our Ask Sam letters. You can visit our Calm Zone and Coping Kit to find different ways of coping. If you need to get your feelings out you can use our Art Box or Wall of Expression game. You can also take your mind off things by creating your dream room in Build Your Happy Place or by playing one of our other games.
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