Local student encourages people in Cardiff to become ChildLine volunteer counsellors
Pic: ChildLine volunteer counsellor, Annemarie Newbury “it’s been a fantastic experience “
Annemarie Newbury, a 20 year old student from Cardiff, underwent training at the beginning of this year to become a ChildLine volunteer counsellor at the online base in Cardiff and is now encouraging others to do the same.
ChildLine is the UK’s free 24-hour confidential helpline for children and young people who are in danger or distress and need someone to turn to. Every day, thousands of young people contact ChildLine – either by phone or online, to talk about the problems they face. The support and advice they receive calms fears, solves problems and, in the most extreme cases, even saves lives.
Annemarie started her training in February, and after completing the XX week course she was able to take part in her first counselling session in April.
Annemarie said: “I decided to become a ChildLine volunteer because I thought it would be a great experience for me and that I would learn a lot from it. I wanted to do something meaningful, to know I was making a difference in someone’s life.
“I found the training very challenging and it surprised me how much I needed to learn but it’s been a fantastic experience and one I’ll never forget.”
ChildLine supervisor at the Cardiff base, Amy Jones, said: “We urgently need people to fill a number of shifts throughout the week. You don’t need to have formal training or qualifications in counselling to apply as we will provide full training to all successful applicants. All you need is a commitment to children and young people, an open mind and an ability to listen and support young people who need to talk.”
