A BLACKPOOL based committee to raise money for ChildLine is one step nearer thanks to a special luncheon hosted by the charity's chairman Esther Rantzen.

Teaming up with Tracy Dawson, widow of Fylde comic Les, Esther told invited guests from all walks of life about the work ChildLine was doing to help millions of abused children with nowhere else to turn, as well as the problem of millions of others who could not get through on the phone lines. The aim of the luncheon was to persuade more local people to organise fundraising events. As Esther explained: "Blackpool has given so much happiness to many generations of children yet we do not have a committee of ChildLine supporters here at all.

"We take more than one million calls a year, something we never expected when we first set it up, but this is still only half of the children who are trying to get through.

"These children have nowhere else to turn and we have to work hard to boost their confidence, convince them that they are precious and they have a right to feel safe

"The basic problem is getting money to pay for the phone calls and with more money we would also be able to train a lot more volunteers. That was why we were so thrilled when Tracy Dawson agreed to help us."

Tracy herself became involved with the charity 12 to 18 months ago having worked with the Acorn Centre in South Shore, a hostel for sexually abused children, and MOSAC (Mothers Of Sexually Abused Children).

One of the things she would like to help ChildLine achieve is the setting up of a hostel or call centre offices here in Blackpool as she explained: "A lot of calls come from the Lancashire area and many people who want to man the phones have to travel to Manchester.

"We have a lot of big businesses here and if we get the support from them we could easily have our own trained volunteers and counsellors. We should be able to get that support in Blackpool.

"We need to get the ball rolling."

If you want to help in any way contact ChildLine North West on (0161) 834 9945. For children who need help the number is (0800) 1111.

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