Volunteers sought for ISPCC services

THE Mid-West services of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), which include Childline, Teenfocus and fundraising efforts, are appealing for volunteers from Clare to ensure that their work can continue.

Ennis woman, Gillian Moloney volunteers with Childline in Limerick and explains there are 11 people from Clare involved in the service. She outlines how necessary it is to keep the service going in the Mid-West and encourages others in Clare to get involved.
“I answer calls with Childline and I’ve been working with them for a year now. We have 40 volunteers currently working in the Limerick office but we need 60 to keep the Limerick base. I got involved because I was always interested in working with children and volunteering. I like the idea of working with children as a career and, personally, I felt this was a way to get involved. I admire what the group stands for. With the training, you learn a lot about dealing with issues children might have, how to listen and it has been something that I would carry in my everyday life. When you start, there’s a training aspect where you learn about child protection and different issues, such as bullying in a school environment or other environments and listening skills. It is really a child-centred approach,” Ms Moloney explained.
She adds that there are a wide variety of types of calls that the service receive from young people, varying from everyday personal problems, to issues in the family or home setting, to issues that children have difficulty talking about, such as sexuality and relationships.
“We provide a listening service. We do not offer advice; it is just a safe environment for them to talk. We answer approximately 1,000 calls a week but we are still not getting to answer all the calls. We answer roughly 65% of them so going from those figures, there is a demand for it and a need from children that they are listened to. Some of the calls we would deal with could be about abuse. Bullying would come up a lot, sexuality also comes up. Some would be concerned about sexual health and what we do is talk them through it and refer them to websites for information,” Ms Moloney advises.
During 2009, Childline volunteers recorded an 11% rise in calls relating to abuse and welfare, a stark reminder that violence relating to children is a significant issue. But Ms Moloney explains that while dealing with such cases, the service is not just about children with a specific problem.
“It might be that they are just bored and they might want to ring us for a chat. It could be something simple they want to call about that they might not be comfortable talking to their parents about. The issue of teenage pregnancy or friends going through it comes up too but there really is a wide range of issues. There would be challenging calls and you have to expect that but the training and the excellent support from the team and staff helps. The training is always ongoing and there is counselling available for yourself also in a private and confidential setting so you can deal with issues that you would have yourself about matters raised,” she said.
Ms Moloney explains that with the evident demand from children ringing the service, it is hugely important to keep it going in the Mid-West. Volunteers are all over the age of 18 but there is a diverse range of age groups and people from all different backgrounds.
Anyone interested in volunteering can enquire by calling 061 400077 or for those seeking the assistance of Childline, the freephone number is 1800 666666.