Throughout the week leading up to June 6 people across the Capital will be playing their part to keep children safe by celebrating NSPCC Childhood Day.
Every year communities in London and across the UK, come together to celebrate childhood through fundraising, volunteering and a range of activities for all to enjoy.
Commuters can donate money and speak to volunteers at collections at stations including Waterloo, London Bridge, Moorgate and Victoria throughout the day on June 4.
And on June 7 Paw Patrol characters will be making special appearances at Matalan stores in Beckton and Croydon for Childhood Day as Matalan launch a fur-tastic new Paw Patrol Range in aid of the NSPCC! Find out more here.
Meanwhile former Olympic swimmer Michael Gunning will be visiting Wickham Common Primary School in Bromley to take part in the Childhood Day Mile sponsored walk on June 6.
Anyone can do the Childhood Day Mile – children can move their mile by parading in the playground, dancing in the dinner hall or lunging in between lessons. Or the whole family can get involved and take on a mile’s walk together, or you can get your workplace together and go the distance in a relay race. How you move a mile is completely up to you! The Childhood Day Mile is for everyone.
Over 80% of the NSPCC’s income comes from donations and it is essential that its services, like Childline, are here for those children that need help and don’t know where to turn.
Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Abi Carter Simpson will be making an appearance at the school she taught at, Ark Franklin Primary in Kensal Rise, on June 3. Abi, an NSPCC Champion of Childhood, will be singing a special song for Childhood Day called Bright Lights to pupils. Proceeds from song downloads will go towards the NSPCC.
As part of the celebration the NSPCC’s London and South East Hub in Camden will be holding an open day for children on June 5, and for professionals on June 6.
Services run from the London and South East Hub include sexual and domestic abuse recovery programmes, and support for those struggling with their mental health during pregnancy.
The Hub, which supports families across the region, is just one aspect of the NSPCC’s work that money raised this Childhood Day could go towards.
Childline is another service run by the NSPCC, providing a listening ear for young people under 19 at any time of day, throughout the year. Volunteer counsellors take calls and messages from children at bases across the country, including at Weston House in Shoreditch.
Out of almost 200,000 counselling sessions delivered to children in 2023/4, an estimated 24,700 of these were from children in London. Every £29 raised from Childhood Day could fund a Childline supervisor for one hour.
Kellie Ann Fitzgerald, Assistant Director for London and the South East, said: “It is essential that our services are here to support children across London and the South East.
“We are incredibly excited for this year’s Childhood Day and looking forward to seeing everyone play their part in helping to keep children safe.”
