Children in Devon at risk this Christmas says NSPCC

By PRSD, on Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Children in Devon could be left at serious risk of harm this Christmas because people are less likely to report abuse over the festive season, warns the NSPCC.

The charity is reminding the public that the NSPCC Helpline – 0808 800 5000 – is available 24/7, 365 days a year. As families gather for a prolonged period, the Helpline is there for people who are experiencing family tensions or have concerns about a child, whether within their own family or in the local neighbourhood. Help is also at hand for adults who may have concerns about their own behaviour.

Almost 65,000 people throughout England, including worried individuals from Devon, called the NSPCC Helpline last year with concerns about a child. This works out as an average of 178 each day.

However, over the Christmas period calls started to drop and on Christmas Day 2008 only 63 calls were received.

John Cameron, head of the Helpline, told the PRSD: “Some children don’t get a Christmas break from cruelty. It can happen at any time, any day. But people seem reluctant to report cases of abuse and neglect at this time of year, possibly because they see it as a happy occasion and don’t want to spoil it.

“However, this means some children could be left in dangerous situations when help should be on its way. Hopefully this year people will realise that a child’s safety is more important and give us a call. We are here round-the-clock, 365 days a year.”

– Calls to the NSPCC –

Last Christmas many of the calls were about children being physically or sexually assaulted or being badly neglected. Six calls from Devon were serious enough to need immediate police or social services help.

Someone in the South West rang the NSPCC Helpline last Christmas to say that she was really concerned about the way her cousin was looking after her two children, six-month-old Michelle and 18-month-old Daniel.

The caller said that members of the family thought that both the children had learning difficulties as Daniel didn’t talk and they were both very passive and did not play. The caller said that she thought the way they were looked after was affecting their development as she said her cousin didn’t care for the children and didn’t meet their basic needs. She said that both children were expected to sit still all day as their mother got annoyed if they made any demands.

The caller said that Michelle was left in her bouncer chair in front of the television all day and Daniel was strapped into a car seat. She said when Daniel did run around he was often handled roughly to make him stop and said on one occasion she witnessed her cousin pick him up and throw him down on the sofa, resulting in him hitting his head and developing a large bruise afterwards. The caller also described the house as being very messy. The NSPCC Helpline was concerned that Michelle and Daniel were being neglected and that there was also a risk of physical abuse and so contacted children’s services to ensure that someone visited the family to check on the children.

The NSPCC aims to raise £50m for its Child’s Voice Appeal over three years to expand the Helpline and ChildLine, which takes calls from children and young people in need of help or advice.

• from a press release from the NSPCC