Childline, the free confidential 24-hour telephone helpline for children and young people in danger or trouble, receives 10,000 calls a day.

But resources dictate that only about 3,300 of these are answered and money to run the much-needed service comes from the efforts of people such as Val Ryder of Great Bromley and Andrew and Alison Faint of Brightlingsea.

These three make up Colchester Friends of Childline, set up in October 1996, and which so far has been able to hand over more than £5,000 to the charity.

Both Val and Andrew work at Williams and Griffin, Colchester, and were members of the store's charity fundraising committee.

Val said: "I had raised some money before for Childline and then Williams and Griffin agreed to let us do a year fundraising for the charity and we raised £2,500."

Andrew, who works full-time in the store's electrical department, contributed to this by running the London marathon - an achievement he intends to repeat next year.

There followed a visit to the Childline London headquarters which resulted in the setting-up of the Colchester Friends.

Val, who works part-time, said: "We toured the building, read the leaflets, read some of the case notes and felt shocked."

Andrew added: "We knew these sorts of things were going on but to realise that they were getting 10,000 calls a day and could only take 3,300 showed the very great need for the service.

"We count ourselves very lucky that no member of our families or anyone we know has suffered like these children."

Mother-of-two Alison, who works at the BP petrol station in Brightlingsea, added: "It was horrific."

Volunteers answer the phone during the daytime but paid counsellors are on duty at night.

Val said: "Childline found that the worst cases come from children ringing in at night.

"Some of these children are so very desperately abused that trained counsellors were necessary."

The trio, who feel blessed by their own supportive and loving upbringings, believe this is one of their assets in dealing with the emotions stirred up by the plight of some children.

Val said: "We come to terms with it by getting on and doing something positive."

Andrew and Alison simply added: "We do all we can to help."

And help they do. So far £5,000 has been handed over to the charity and there is still £1,000 in the bank to be added to.

Events this year are set to include a team of 22 women taking part in the national women's fun run at Hyde Park in July, a shrubs sale at Castle Park, Colchester, later this month, stalls in Colchester's Red Lion Yard, the town carnival, collections outside supermarkets in Colchester and street collections in Clacton in June and Colchester in December.

By visiting schools, Women's Institute meetings and other organisations such as Rotary clubs, the trio have built up a network of helpers.

"The service relies on public donations and 75p in every £1 goes totally to the charity," said Val.

Childline was set up as a result of the BBC consumer programme That's Life presented by Esther Rantzen.

The BBC also ran a helpline for 24 hours after the programme for adults and children - and the lines were jammed.

The free telephone helpline was set up in 1986 after consultation with child care professionals.

Anyone who would like to help Val, Andrew and Alison in any way can contact them by ringing 01206 251527 or 01206 305722.

The Childline freephone number is 0800 1111 wherever a child is calling from.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.