By Hannah Jolliffe

It's 10pm. It's dark and you've got nowhere to sleep safely for the night, no one to ask for help and no money in your pocket. Oh, and one more thing – you're only 11. It's not a pretty picture, but, according to the Children's Society, 100,000 young people run away each year, so it's not uncommon either.

Help is at hand

For many children and young people who have no one to turn to in times of distress, picking up the phone is the only option they have. Whether they're being bullied, experiencing family problems or have run away from home, volunteers answering calls on helplines such as ChildLine and the Runaway Helpline will listen and support young callers at all times of the day and night.

"A lot of the time, young callers just want to talk to someone. Often they are calling before they have run away while they are considering it," says Jill Taylor, a volunteer on the Runaway Helpline. "We would try to encourage them to talk to someone – either at school or someone in their family. We'd also tell them about social services or a local drop-in centre, or other helplines. They need to know that they have options and people they can talk to."

For Barbara Healey, who's been a volunteer counsellor for ChildLine for 17 years, it's important that children can turn to a service that offers complete anonymity and puts the child first.

"It's very satisfying to know you've been there for someone who doesn't have anywhere to turn," she says. "Childline is the only service children can use completely confidentially, so we're looking for volunteers who have an 'open' attitude. They need to be non-judgemental, be able to listen without imposing their own views, and have a desire to give children a chance to find their own path.

"Still, I can get sad and angry at times and it can be incredibly frustrating when there's nothing you can do except be there to listen. Often, the child will have tried everything in their power already, especially if they're being bullied. All you can do in that situation is listen and say 'call us again'."

Volunteer training

Listening to such heart-wrenching stories can take it's toll on your emotions, so it's not surprising that both helplines provide thorough training before you can start answering calls, as well as ongoing training and support.

The initial training for the Runaway Helpline is 15 hours over three weekends. "This involves an introduction to the helpline and our policies, procedures and guidelines and an overview of why people may run away," explains Chloe Swinton, Volunteer Manager at the Runaway Helpline. "We do lots of role play exercises, which help volunteers to learn about the issues faced by callers and how to respond on the helpline. We also run an email service, so we train volunteers in how to reply to emails, which is quite a different skill. They can't ask questions or ask for things to be clarified, like they can on the phone."

ChildLine runs a similar training programme that lasts three months and rewards volunteers with a ChildLine certificate if you pass. Both organisations operate a system where new volunteers sit and listen to supervisors taking calls for a few shifts, then swap over so the supervisor listens in to their calls, before going it alone for the first time. "By then, the volunteers are usually confident enough to start taking calls on their own," says Chloe Swinton.

The 'C' word

Most helplines organise their volunteers around four-hour volunteering shifts and ask you to give a minimum of four hours per week. Although it's not the most time-intensive opportunity around, it is demanding while you're there, and it's vital that volunteers are committed to the time they've promised. "The most important quality for volunteers on The Runaway Helpline is time and commitment," stresses Jill Taylor. "The organisation puts a lot of time into training volunteers, so if you don't commit after that it's a waste of their time. If you don't turn up for your shift you're also letting everyone down as there are so many calls to take."

Childline's supervisor, Nick Woods, agrees. "The three-month training is a commitment in itself, so it's important to be serious about it," he says. Still, the organisation extends the same commitment back with ongoing training, opportunities for volunteers to get involved in recruiting, training and mentoring newer volunteers (as Barbara has) and a 'time out' option if volunteers want to take an extended break and come back again.

There's also a real commitment, from both organisations, to supporting volunteers through the more distressing calls. Supervisors are in the call rooms at all times to offer ongoing support, both during and after calls. Every shift ends with a 'debriefing', during which volunteers can offload any difficult emotions.

"Even if some of the calls I take are horrific I still feel positive at the end of the shift and glad that I've done something good," enthuses Jill Taylor. "It's so different from my day job. I work in IT for a big company that focuses on profit and hitting targets. Volunteering on the helpline is all about the welfare of other people. I know other people who volunteer and are just left to it - that would never happen here. All the time they want the best for you and for the helpline."

Search the do-it.org.uk database  for volunteering opportunities on children's helplines in your area.

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