Volunteer with Childline at our Liverpool base. Do you have 2-4 hours a week to give to support children and young people who contact our service? No experience is required. Full training provided.
What we’re looking for
Someone who wants to make a difference to children’s lives by being there to listen when they feel they have no one else to turn to. As a Childline counsellor, you’ll be there for young people and listen to them as they open up about whatever is worrying them, whether it’s bullying, abuse, self-harm or family relationships – you’ll be there to support them.
What you’ll do
You’ll volunteer in your local Childline base, offering counselling support to children and young people over the phone or through our 1-2-1 online chat. Your supervisor will help you develop and evaluate your counselling skills. After your initial training, you will be able to help young people as well as identify when a child or young person may be at risk, but don’t worry a supervisor will be on hand to give you plenty of support.
What you’ll get
You’ll receive training sessions over 11 weeks to prepare you for the role. When you start your regular shifts, a supervisor will be around all times to support you. Every shift includes a briefing and debriefing alongside other volunteers. Supervisors will also give you regular one-to-one support and group supervisions.
What we’ll need from you
Signing up to be a Childline counsellor is a big commitment and requires lots of training so, we do ask people to stay in the role for a minimum of one year.
We’ll also need to do some routine safeguarding checks, including an enhanced criminal record check and at least two satisfactory references with at least one covering a period of five years or more with no gaps.
It’s nothing to worry about, and we can answer any questions you have about this.
Who’s right for the role?
While we think this role is suitable for a whole range of people, we are particularly looking for those with the following qualities and experience.
• Passionate about helping young people and children
• Great communication skills
• Empathetic and perceptive
• Able to think on your feet
• Works well within a team
• Emotional resilience
Interested in getting involved? Volunteer today and join our fight for every childhood.
We can offer travel expenses up to £20 per journey and after a year's service, we are happy to provide references.
Benefits to self
The opportunity to be there to support young people, knowing you made a real difference in people's lives, comprehensive accredited training, valuable experience with transferable skills such as: enhanced communication, problem solving and teamwork.
Benefits to others
Childline offers 24/7 confidential support to young people who need somewhere to share their worries and thoughts. You will be supporting this service by directly helping young people answering phone calls and messages so that the service is always open to whoever needs it.
Location
Hargreaves Centre, L53LQ
Training available
Childline offers a full 12 week online training programme to new volunteers. This consists of one online session per week and self study materials.
During the training, you will meet other Volunteers in your cohort and have access to your 2 dedicated Childline Trainers.
As part of the training, you will also go in person to your local Base for observation and mentored shifts which give you a face to face insight into how the Counselling Room works.
Transport details
We can offer travel expenses up to £20 per journey. The base is accessible by bus and we have a private car park. We pay for taxis if you are doing a night shift or have accessibility needs.