What is Ask Sam?

How does Ask Sam work?

Ask Sam is where you can find letters from young people about all kinds of topics, along with replies with helpful advice and support.

Anyone can write a letter to Ask Sam, you just need to sign up for a confidential Childline account. We read every letter that’s sent to us and pick a few to publish on our website each week.

Want to write to Ask Sam? Get started below!

Write to Ask Sam

Questions about Ask Sam

Do you reply to every letter?

No. Ask Sam receives hundreds of letter a week, and is only able to publish a few of them.

If you want to make sure you get a reply, it’s better to send a message to Childline.

Who is Sam?

Sam isn’t just one person. A team in Childline help to write Ask Sam’s response to make sure we’re giving the best advice possible.

Who writes the letters to Sam?

You do! All of our letters have been written by young people on the Childline website.

Do you edit or change letters?

Sometimes. We’ll only edit letters to take out identifying details like names or places, or to correct some of the spelling.

Can Ask Sam give medical advice?

No. We’re not medically trained at Childline, so we can’t reply to letters asking for specific medical advice. If you’re worried about something, you should always visit your doctor.

Why aren’t all letters published?

Not all of the letters we receive at Ask Sam can be published on the website. This might be because they would make you identifiable or need more support than we can give in one letter.

We only publish a few letters each week to make sure each letter has a chance to be read by different young people.

Even if you’ve written to Ask Sam, it’s okay to share your letter with Childline if you want to make sure you get a reply.

We try to pick a few letters each week that are different to other letters we’ve published before, so that we’re giving support to all different issues.

Safety and confidentiality

Ask Sam is very different to speaking to a counsellor at Childline. We only publish a few letters each week, so you may not get a reply to your letter. Letters aren’t usually published straight away.

If you want to make sure you get a response, you can always send a message to a counsellor. They’ll respond within 24 hours and you’ll be able to keep writing back. Some people will even send their message to a counsellor and to Ask Sam.

Ask Sam has the same confidentiality promise as the rest of our website. That means what you say usually stays between you and Childline, but that there are times we might need to pass on what you’ve said. You can find out more about how our confidentiality works here.