Has anyone ever worked for Childline (or similar)

i've been thinking about volunteering for then samaritans lately, so i'd similarly be interested in any advice/replies.

Ditto.

My mum has spent quite some time working with both. She has very fond memories of the Sams, less so of Childline. It's about a decade since she was at Childline, but when she was there she complained that they had too many "lines" to take — ie what to say in a specific situation, whereas at Sams it was very much about listening and reacting in whatever way you see fit.

I know both groups give loads of training and are always on the lookout for volunteers, though they don't just accept anyone. My mother always says I should sign up, but I can never shake the mental picture of that Red Dwarf episode where Rimmer joins the Samaritans and they have their highest-ever one-day suicide rate. "They called it Black Wednesday," he reflects. Or was that The Brittas Empire? I forget.

I haven't done either Samaritans or ChildLine, but have experience of dealing with similarly troubled people in the same sort of situation as you would find yourself in. I'm absolutely not going into it here, other than to say that it is totally rewarding but can also be deeply distressing. Ronan/Stevie/Mark, if you want to email me though, feel free.