PARENTLINE SCOTLAND  – for anybody concerned about a child

Bringing up a child can be hard work and sometimes talking to friends or family who are part of everyday life doesn't always help. It is good to share your worries with someone that doesn’t know you and who can see things in a different way.

At ParentLine Scotland (0800 028 2233) we are here to listen. We help and support any adult who is caring for a child, with any problems no matter how big or small. If you have concerns about a child anywhere in Scotland, please call us on our free confidential helpline 0800 028 2233. If it is easier to write things down than to pick up the phone, you can get in touch through our confidential email service at parentlinescotland@children1st.org.uk  ParentLine Scotland is also a key resource for the new national kinship care service which was launched in March 2011, and provides a comprehensive advice service to support kinship carers.

Our call takers are not here to tell you what to do or how to bring up your child. They listen and help you get to the bottom of the problem by talking through what is happening and how you feel about it. They will support you to decide what to do next and nothing that you are worried about is too big or too small for us to deal with.

We get calls from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, neighbours and friends but all want the same thing, to try and make things better. Many callers get in touch with us when they are at the end of their tether and feel like they can't cope anymore. Sometimes callers are embarrassed about asking for help. But they soon find that just talking things through can really make a difference.

Since our launch in 1999 we have had over 111,000 calls to the helpline. People call for all sorts of reasons like the relationship with teenagers, separation and divorce, bullying, family relationships, kinship care concerns, money, violence and child abuse for example, but they also call to talk about lots of other issues too.

All calls are answered by specially trained volunteers who have also received additional training in specialist subjects such as postnatal depression, suicide prevention and financial matters to name but a few.

ParentLine Scotland lines are open as follows:

Monday ,Wednesday and Friday  9am to 5pm    

Tuesday and  Thursday             9am to 10pm

Saturday and Sunday              12pm to 8pm