Hi everyone, I’m Jackie and I’m one of the NSPCC’s fundraisers based in Leeds.
This blog is the first in a series to let you know a little more about what we do and how we help parents and children across Leeds, West Yorkshire and – along with our colleagues – the rest of the country.
First thing’s first – although I’m a fundraiser, I’m not asking you for money. Not straight away, anyway! But it’s important to remember that the vast majority of the NSPCC’s funding – about 90% – comes directly from donations. Some people find that surprising, considering how well-respected and historic the charity is, and the amount of work we do, but it’s true.
And every penny really does help us run our services which help children and families around Leeds to prevent or recover from sexual abuse, help children deal with problems affecting their life, happiness or wellbeing, and to help parents at risk of anxiety and depression during the first year of a new baby’s life.
Right in the heart of Leeds city centre is one of our Childline centres, where our specially-trained counsellors take calls, emails and private messages from children and young people across the country who might be experiencing their darkest hour. On average, Childline receives a call from a child or young person every 25 seconds. Every single one of those contacts costs £4 to answer, and we want to ensure we’re able to respond to them all.
Like everyone, we’ve had to adapt this year to ensure the charity is still here on the frontline to help children and young people when they need us most, and we’ll continue to do so as the pandemic continues.
One thing that hasn’t changed though, is out commitment to ensuring young people who need our support can access all the help they need. We know that calls to our Helpline from adults concerned about the wellbeing of children at risk of physical abuse increased by 53% in the first four months of lockdown, and that’s why fundraising is so important – we couldn’t do what we do to help children without it.
Throughout the pandemic, we’ve had to reconsider how we hold fundraising events – we’re holding a lot of them virtually now, and exploring new ways to get people together to support the charity – I’ll be sure to include invitations and links to upcoming events here whenever I can, so you can find out more and – hopefully – help us ensure we’re still there for children when they need us most.
If you want to keep up with our latest events and activities in the meantime, please follow us on Facebook – search for NSPCC Yorkshire & Humberside Fundraising – where we post regularly about our local events and national campaigns.
That’s it from me for now – I hope you’ve found this little look at the NSPCC interesting, but if you want to find out more about any of our services, you can visit www.nspcc.org.uk
