Every time I go to have a 1-2-1 chat, the wait time is always red and I wait for a long time, often quitting because I dont have enough time to talk. What times are the least busy ?
Hi there,
I'm really glad you took the time to write me this letter. I'm sorry that you've been having trouble getting through to a counsellor. Childline is here for all young people in the UK and there are times when we're really busy. But we always want to hear from you.
It's difficult to say when the least busy time will be exactly, but one idea is to take a note of the time when the wait was too long for you and try a very different time of day to that. So if it was 8pm, try something like 4pm or 10am - or a different day like a weekend. Remember though, there will often be some kind of wait for a chat, but no matter what happens a counsellor will always answer if you wait long enough.
There are other ways of contacting Childline if you don't have the time to wait for a 1-2-1 chat. You can send an email through your Childline account which a counsellor will read and respond to. This means you can come back to read the response when you have more time and don't have to wait in a queue first. It doesn't use your private email address and is done entirely within the Childline website, so your privacy is protected.
You're always able to call us on the phone - and the wait time is usually a lot less. It's free to call us on 0800 11 11 and won't show up on most phone bills.
If you can't do any of those then you'll find lots of advice on my pages by looking at letters I've answered before. There is a good chance you'll be able to find a letter that's similar to your situation if you search for it. Childline also has lots of information about different issues that could be useful for you.
I hope that helps, thanks for your letter.
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.
