A CHILDLINE counsellor says he is proud to work on Christmas Day to make a positive difference in the lives of young people.
Stuart Gowdy (51) will spend the holiday in NSPCC’s Childline base in Belfast.
Although this means he will be parted from his family, he said he would happily spend the time talking to children when they need the service the most.
Mr Gowdy said many issues had emerged over the last year – loneliness and isolation, home schooling, anxiety around catching coronavirus and uncertainty about the future.
He said these placed additional strain on young people.
"Sadly, Christmas can be another difficult time and scenes of happy families gathered around opening presents on Christmas morning are not the reality for many families - added expenses, contact arrangements, increased levels of substance misuse and grief are just some factors which may contribute to making the holiday period a heightened time for neglected and abused children," he said.
"It can be a bit like lockdown, where young people can be stuck in a home situation where tensions come to the fore and they can find that they are actually forced to spend more time with the very people who abuse them. Because school is finished, and the other forms of support they may use are less available, it can be a fearful and dangerous time for many children. That’s why Childline is so vital, because if they want to talk to us we’ll be there to listen, 24 hours a day and Christmas Day is no different."
This will be his fifth Christmas Day working in the Belfast Childline base.
"It's not a hardship because I'm really proud to be able to work to help children who are having a tough time over the festive season. I actually enjoy working on Christmas day and the atmosphere in the counselling room with our amazing volunteers is really good, it’s a bit like home from home with lots of chocolate and Christmas jumpers," he added.
"We are fortunate in the Belfast base this year that our shift doesn’t start to 6pm so I will be able to have my Christmas dinner as normal with my family who are all really supportive of the work I do in Childline. Usually, I would have nodded off by 6pm with too much turkey, so I don’t think they’ll miss me too much."
Mr Gowdy encouraged people to donate to the service, or to volunteer their time to Childline.
"It is a really rewarding experience to be there for young people. You will be supported both through training and with support talking to young people on shift and you will never be alone with dealing with anything," he said.
