Are you affected by the credit crunch?

Over the last couple of months Get Connected has seen a rise in demand for the helpline, with more young people asking us for help with issues like housing and mental health.

But young people asking us for help with their benefits and finances has actually been falling since November last year.

Youth marketing people Dubit surveyed teenagers on the subject of the credit crunch and reported that the majority of young people were feeling its effects - and seem to be changing their habits as a result. 

We're wondering what your experience has been over the last few months - are recent changes in the UK economy just dramatic stories in the media, or can you feel them closer to home? Is your family struggling as a result? Do you know people who've lost their jobs? Visit our blog to share your views.

Don't forget if worries about money, jobs of family pressures are getting to you, you can contact Get Connected for help. 

Pam started volunteering on our helpline earlier this year and has been doing more than the usual one shift each week so she's got to know us pretty quickly...

She's also been having fun with paint by the look of that stunning self-portrait over there.

ALOL: Why did you start volunteering?

Pam: So that I could fill my spare time with something more rewarding then sleeping and clicking on the internet. I wanted to be able to offer young people opportunities to make positive change in their lives, and at Get Connected I have a chance to do so.

Visit the blog to read the rest of our interview with Pam. 

The Get Connected auction, supported by The Carphone Warehouse, has become a staple in our fundraising calendar, and you'll be pleased to hear despite the gloom that descends every time you mention 'money' at the moment, helping young people is still a priority for lots of companies this year.

We raised £145,000 in one night!

We were lucky to have a lot of amazing prizes donated to the auction, including five star holidays,  tickets to the V Festival and to the X Factor, and some gadgets so new we hadn't even heard of them yet. 

2009 is Get Connected's tenth year. You might know that we were set up in 1999 by people from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the British Transport Police and others, and have been growing ever since. (I'll try to find an old photo to show you what we used to look like, although I'm not sure we had digital photos back then... here you go, I've found our old logo)

Most significantly, we expect to help our 100,000th young person this year. Whilst the first young person we ever spoke to would have had to phone us, the 100,000th will be able to choose between phoning, emailing or webchatting.

We'll be organising some birthday party-style celebrations this year, so keep your eyes open for details...

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