January Thank You 2024 (Welcome Journey)

Thank you for being there in 2023

Protecting children in the online world Supporters like you made sure the Online Safety Act remained a priority through four different Prime Ministers, and ensured children’s voices were always heard.

In October, the Online Safety Act was finally made a law by Parliament!

Although this is a huge victory, our fight for a safe online world isn’t over. We must make sure tech companies take the necessary actions to protect children. For now though, you should feel really proud of the difference you’ve made.

Tech companies will have a duty of care

to protect their child users

Childline: there’s always someone to talk to With your help, Childline provided 195,542 counselling sessions in 2022/23. For young people facing issues with their mental health, family relationships, bullying and more, these sessions are life-changing.

On average, a child contacts Childline

every 45 seconds

“ I don’t know how I’d cope if I didn’t have Childline, it makes me feel safer. It’s like someone’s with me.”

Girl, aged 13

Helpline: if you’re concerned about a child You’ve kept our Helpline open for any adult who might be worried about the welfare of a child.

Our Helpline answers contacts from people worried about child neglect, abuse or exploitation. In 2022/23, we responded to 59,282 contacts from people concerned about children – and over 17,700 of these resulted in a referral to an external agency.

Last year, almost

40,000

child welfare calls to the NSPCC Helpline were about abuse

Listen Up Speak Up: spotting signs of abuse and neglect Listen Up Speak Up is a free 10-minute online training session. It teaches adults to spot the signs of abuse and neglect, and know the steps to take if they’re concerned about a child.

Over 21,000 people signed up to the campaign, and 80% of those were new supporters of the NSPCC. You’ve helped spread this important knowledge far and wide.

Speak out Stay safe: helping children recognise abuse With your support, our Speak out Stay safe programme was able to reach over 1.2 million children in 2022-23. Online assemblies and workshops help children understand how to recognise signs of abuse, where to get help, and that it is never their fault.

This is such an important message, which we know will help to prevent abuse. And this simply couldn’t happen without you.

Building Connections: never alone in the world Finally, thank you for helping us launch our new online service, Building Connections. It’s an 11-week programme that helps young people build confidence and make friends, with the support of a trained befriender.

While it’s too early to share statistics, please know just how important this service will be to children struggling with loneliness.

Thank you for making a world of difference Together, we can achieve so much more. Throughout 2024 and beyond.

If you’d like to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you: You can call our Supporter Care Team (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) on 020 7825 2505, or email them at supportercare@nspcc.org.uk.

© The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) 2024.

Registered charity England and Wales 216401. Scotland SC037717. Jersey 384.

Images are posed by models to protect identities. Photography by Tom Hull & Getty Images.