CHILDLINE has revealed that counselling sessions on loneliness peaked over the festive period last year, with the service delivering a record number of almost 600 in December alone.

From April 2020 to March 2021 there were also 6,039 counselling sessions about loneliness, an all-time high for a single year.

Loneliness is particularly affecting younger children, with a 47 per cent increase in counselling sessions with children aged 11 and under in 2020/21 when compared to the year before.

The NSPCC is now reaching out to the public to support its Here for Children Appeal and donate.

Childline founder, Dame Esther Rantzen, said: “We know how painful Christmas can be for some children, particularly when the media is filled with pictures of happy families, and they are feeling unloved. A child once described it as like looking through a shop window where everything is warm and bright, and you are outside where it’s cold and dark.

“Given the pandemic, it is no surprise that we’ve seen record numbers get in touch. The lockdowns exacerbated these feelings, especially when schools had to close, and they couldn’t see friends and family.

“We need to remind them that they can contact Childline by phone or online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”