The Bill star Beth Cordingly backs NSPCC Childline service in Camden schools
Left to right: NSPCC workers Kelly Thorndick and Kelly Evans with actress Beth Cordingly holding 1119 balloons outside the charity's offices in Greenland Place, Camden Town. Picture: Polly Hancock. - Credit: Archant
TV actress Beth Cordingly has celebrated the success of a new child abuse awareness service which has reached hundreds of Camden children.
The 36-year-old, best known for her starring role in former ITV series The Bill, visited the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) building in Camden Town to celebrate the work carried out through the charity’s ChildLine Schools Service on Tuesday.
Between April and July, NSPCC volunteers brought the service to 1,119 children in schools across north London, including 375 children in Camden.
Mother-of-one Ms Cordingly, a longtime supporter of the NSPCC, said: “It’s great news that the ChildLine Schools Service has been able to get these really important messages out to so many children in north London.
“As a mother myself I can’t stand the thought of any child being hurt, and to think that they’re suffering in silence and don’t know who to turn to makes it even worse.
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“The ChildLine Schools Service is a brilliant way to reach young children who need support.”
Ms Cordingly joined NSPCC staff at their office in Greenland Place for a special photocall holding one-metre high, helium-filled balloons spelling out “1,119” – the number of children reached by the service.
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The ChildLine Schools Service sends specially-trained volunteers to primary schools to talk to children about abuse, giving them the skills to protect themselves and showing them where to go to for help.
The service in north London has been part-funded by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, which donated £80,000 to the NSPCC.
ChildLine area coordinator Kelly Thorndick said: “NSPCC research shows that, on average, at least two children in every primary classroom will have suffered some form of abuse or neglect, but we also know that the majority of children who contact our helpline are aged over 11 and often talk about abuse that happened months or even years earlier.
“With the help of the funding award from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery we hope to deliver the service to more than 5,300 children in 54 schools across north London during this financial year.”
