Tribute to Dedicated ChildLine Volunteers
Two dedicated ChildLine volunteers from Birmingham are among a number of NSPCC volunteers being recognised as NSPCC Volunteer Heroesthis week for their efforts to support the children’s charity.
Accountant Inde Johal, who is 37 and from Birmingham has been volunteering his spare time every week to support the NSPCC as a Counsellor at the ChildLine base in Birmingham. He is part of a large team of volunteers who volunteer to provide 24 hour counselling support to children and young people. ChildLine member of staff Amanda Synnott, has been volunteering for 10 months as a member of the Birmingham CIBA fundraising group to support fundraising efforts for ChildLine in Birmingham. Inde and Amanda are amongst a group of more than 10,000 people who undertake a wide range of activities on behalf of the charity.
Ziv Israeli, Manager of ChildLine in Birmingham said: “Our volunteers really are heroes to us and more importantly to the children that we work to protect, and so we wanted to celebrate them and the fantastic things that they do to make our work with vulnerable children possible. The support of our ChildLine Counsellors like Inde and Amanda has been invaluable and we would like to appeal to other local people to become NSPCC volunteers.”
Inde said: ““I would say that there are several things that I love about volunteering for the NSPCC. I really enjoy making a difference to young people’s lives. It’s really nice knowing I’ve hopefully helped someone or saved someone from an unsafe situation. I love being part of a group of people who don’t get enough recognition for what they do. Coming from a challenging professional background, it is humbling and refreshing to be part of a volunteer community where everyone is equal, there’s mutual respect and people are making a real difference. I couldn’t think of many more things that are as rewarding as being part of the NSPCC volunteer community. In fact I enjoy volunteering so much I take every opportunity I can to get the message to others about volunteering for the NSPCC, from my friends to my fellow gardeners at my local allotment.”
Amanda Synnott added: “I feel passionate about the work we do and know the importance of funding for the charity, what it costs to run the service and train people to help service users. ChildLine can be a life line for many children and young people and this drives me to want to raise funds so the service can continue for many years to come.”
During 2012-13, the NSPCC’s 10,000 volunteers achieved some amazing things for the charity:
Ziv Israeli, Manager of ChildLine in Birmingham is keen to hear from budding volunteers from across Birmingham and the West Midlands. He concludes: “Whether you can spare an hour a week, or just one day to help the NSPCC, we would love to hear from you. We have numerous volunteering opportunities ranging from helping at a collection in your local shopping centre, joining a local fundraising committee, to taking part in the London Marathon, or becoming one of our ChildLine Schools Service volunteers or even becoming a volunteer driver at one of our centres – however you can help, please do get in touch.”
· 1,332 ChildLine volunteers answered more than 1.4 million contacts from children and young people
· 22,142 children and young people took part in activities, including staff recruitment, government consultations, and writing for the media
· 7,000 volunteers raised more than £4m by staging local events and activities
· 2,800 people gave up their time to run, cycle and trek for children, and raised £2.7m in the process
· 500 volunteers did everything from cheering on our participants in running events to giving our London Marathon runners a post-race massage
To find out more about the range of volunteering opportunities for the NSPCC locally, visit nspcc.org.uk/get involved or call 0115 920 3711 for fundraising queries or 0844 8940215 for ChildLine volunteering queries.
