New Childline unit for Mullingar

Westmeath Senior Football player Dessie Dolan and Senator Donie Cassidy launched the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children"s new Mullingar Childline unit at the ISPCC Volunteer Conference in the Mullingar Park Hotel last Saturday.Speaking of the event, Senator Donnie Cassidy said, 'we are fortunate in the Westmeath area that this is coming. I was delighted and honoured to do the official launch of Childline in Mullingar.'Mullingar proved an ideal location for a national conference due to the central location and the wonderful facilities at the Mullingar Park Hotel which were praised by the delegates, he commented. The ISPCC, in line with national policy, is not publicising the location of the unit.Senator Cassidy praised the volunteers and in particular, 'the group of ladies that are on an eight week course and have six weeks done are to be commended'.The new Childline service in Mullingar will provide a telephone and web based service to children all over Ireland and will help the ISPCC to achieve its goal of answering 100 per cent of calls to Childline by 2011. At the moment the ISPCC annually answer 60per cent of calls. In 2007, that accounted for some 294,908 calls with a further 75,865 web and text responses.Currently there are about 350 staff and volunteers manning phone lines around the country. Mullingar"s new unit will operate with one staff member and 15 volunteers who join forces with six other units around the country in providing assistance to children in need. The new unit will come onstream in the new year.The Childline telephone service is a free 24 hour active listening support service, accessed by dialling 1800 666 666.Childline Automated Text service is a 24 hour automated supportive service for children and young people. By texting List to 50101 children and young people can get support on a variety of issues in their lives.Through the Childline web service www.childline.ie children can post messages in public or in private which are responded to within three days. Children can also avail of Childline "One to one" on- line live chat service.The ISPCC will be seeking volunteers to work in their various national operations at the beginning of 2009, according to Regional Organiser Laura Gaffney.Those interested in volunteering for the project can contact the ISPCC Head Office in Dublin on (01) 6767960.