This National Volunteering Week (May 19-25, 2025), ISPCC wants to say a huge thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who are always available to listen to children and young people
We couldn’t provide the services and support we do without our selfless volunteers who go out of their way time and again to offer support to those who need it, whenever they need it, no matter the reason.
“Our dedicated volunteers and teams around the country listen and support children and young people, no matter what is on their mind or what they may be going through,” says Caroline O’Sullivan, ISPCC Director of Services. “Childline is there, unconditionally, for them. Our online chat service is ideal for children who may feel more comfortable seeking support by typing and messaging about what is going on for them.”
These conversations address serious challenges, with self-harm a big issue, as well as anxiety, stress over exams and family disagreements also being regularly discussed. For teens, body image and stress over social media is causing a lot of anxiety.
Ian Kinsella, a recent volunteer in ISPCC’s Dublin unit, says that children and young people need to be heard and need to be given their space without direction and judgment because they get that in so many other places. He says that “it is incredibly rewarding to see that you have made a difference in a child’s life, it’s priceless”.
As well as the 24/7 listening service, ISPCC also offers free Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Programmes, two of which are available to parents/carers of either anxious children or teens while the third is aimed at teenagers experiencing low to moderate levels of anxiety. Users complete the programme under the guidance of a volunteer.
ISPCC volunteer Dee Higgins believes that the programmes are empowering for users of all ages. “It gives parents and young people a chance to deal with their anxieties before it becomes a huge issue,” she said, adding that “if parents can understand what their child is going through, that’s a huge step.”
The Childline 24/7 listening service is anonymous, a fact that Ian thinks really helps children and young people to express what’s on their mind to a supportive listener.
“So many people feel that they can’t talk to others about what’s going on in their lives,” says Val Beegan, a volunteer with Childline’s Limerick unit. Val knows all about what’s on the minds of children and young people as she’s been volunteering with Childline for over 25 years.
Val has been involved in every type of conversation from children devastated to be thrown out of their friends’ what’s app group to young people wanting to stop self-harming but unable to do so.
She is one of two volunteers in ISPCC’s Limerick office working on both Childline’s 24/7 listening service and its online digital mental health programmes. Val believes that levels of anxiety among children and young people have really exacerbated over the years. “It is so good to hear young people talking about it on the phone and opening up how it affects them.”
Val also sees the other side of the story, how parents can feel so helpless trying to help their children who are suffering from anxiety and is grateful to be involved in the Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Programmes because she feels that they can make such a difference to children, young people and their parents.
They all need to be heard, says Val, and talking can make a real difference.
