Some questions answered
If the pages you've read so far have left you with a few questions, the headings below might help.
Why is there a need for Get Connected?
How do people find out about Get Connected?
How are you different from ChildLine?
Why is there a need for Get Connected?
Think about it this way. If you were homeless in Blackpool and needed somewhere to eat and wash, where would you go? Did you know the Salvation Army runs a whole range of services for homeless people at the Blackpool Community Centre? Probably not.
There are thousands of sources of help in the UK. There are over 1,500 for helping with homelessness alone. But when you're actually homeless, and have no money - and are a teenager, like most of Get Connected's callers - knowing that those services exist, let alone how to contact them and which one is best, is almost impossible.
Get Connected enables a young person to navigate their way through the services designed to help them, choose the one that's most appropriate, and gives them the vital free connection to that service which they couldn't have afforded alone.
And it's not just homelessness - it's any issue a young person might find confusing or worrying.
Can adults contact you?
Adults do contact us with their concerns about a young person. They make up approximately 10% of contact to the helpline. In these cases, we try to find services that can give the young person the support they need so that the adult can pass on their details. We can also suggest some services aimed at supporting adults in issues relating to their children, grandchildren, neighbours etc.
However our main aim is that the young person themselves contacts our helpline, so that we can focus on their needs at their pace.
How do people find out about Get Connected?
The top two ways that young people find out about the helpline are through friends and family and in the phonebook.
We also reach young people through schools, universities, magazines and online promotion, and enjoy support from The Carphone Warehouse in reaching specific regions of the UK.
If you'd like to help us let young people know we're here for them, why not request some of our posters or cards and distribute them to your local youth centre, school or leisure centre? Just email us or call 020 7009 2500.
Who staffs the helpline?
Our phone, email and webchat helpline is entirely staffed by volunteers. They are all based in London and come from many different backgrounds. Some work with young people in their professional lives, others had no experience of helping young people till they trained at Get Connected.
Recruiting volunteers to staff our helpline enables us to keep running costs to a minimum. With no previous experience or qualifications necessary, working on our helpline is a brilliant opportunity to help young people which most of us working in full-time jobs wouldn't usually get. It's also good experience if you're looking for a job in the charity sector or in youth welfare.
Visit our volunteering section to find out more.
How are you different from ChildLine?
Some young people call ChildLine and are referred to Get Connected as the best service to help them. Some young people call Get Connected and are referred to ChildLine for the same reason. Our services are complementary rather than identical or in competition.
Get Connected provides impartial emotional support and signposting, whereas ChildLine provides a counselling service. Only Get Connected can connect a young person under 25 for free to any service in the UK.
So Get Connected will mention ChildLine when a young person under 18 is looking for counselling over the phone or by post. But where the young person is confronting a particular issue, for instance housing or sexual health, there may be a more specific service available to them, and they may want to access it face to face or via webchat/email etc. Get Connected's Helpline Workers will give all the available options and encourage the young person to make their own decision on what's best.
Get Connected and ChildLine share features that are important to a vulnerable young person - we're both free, calls to us don't show up on the phonebill, and we're both confidential.
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