THE festive period is always hectic, and this one has been busier than most. But now the frenzied electioneering of the last few weeks has ended, hopefully you’re relaxing and starting to think about Christmas once again.

If you’re lucky, you’ll be spending your festive period with family and loved ones in joyful environments.

But it’s important to remember that for many children and young people, Christmas is not a happy time.

This Christmas, the NSPCC wants your help in ensuring we can provide A Light For Every Childhood, because we know one in five children in the UK is affected by abuse, and sadly, this abuse does not take a break for the holidays.

We have specially-trained counsellors available to speak to children 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at our Childline centres around the country.

On Christmas Day this year, the volunteers in our Yorkshire site will be manning the phones, emails and direct messages to offer support, guidance and help to children and young people around the country.

Last year, our Childline volunteers provided 7,157 counselling sessions between Christmas Eve and January 4, and we’re expecting to be busy again over Christmas this year.

Children and young people need help every day of the year, and schools and many support services are closed over the Christmas period. When that happens, and young people have nowhere else to turn, Childline is there.

The importance of our service in supporting children in their darkest hours cannot be overstated - our specially-trained counsellors will receive a call from a child experiencing suicidal thoughts every hour during the Christmas night shifts, and it is vital we’re there whenever a young person needs our help.

Grace was beaten by her father, and was just six years old when she phoned Childline at the start of the Christmas holidays, because in her words: “I was dreading that time trapped at home.”

“No one knew I’d left the house. I ran out the door and across the road to the phone box, before anyone could see me. As soon as I got through, I burst into tears. I couldn’t hold it all in any longer. Everything that was worrying me, the abuse, the fear, the pain – it just came pouring out.”

Sadly, we know that we’re unable to answer one in three calls, emails and electronic messages to our Childline service. We want to change that.

In the run-up to Christmas, there are lights everywhere, but this weekend in York and Bradford, you might have seen a few more in a fetching shade of green.

A section of York’s city walls and the historic Clifford’s Tower have both been illuminated in support of the NSPCC’s A Light For Every Childhood campaign, and in Bradford, City Hall went green for us as well.

Sites around the country have gone green in recent weeks, starting with Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, and including Blackpool Tower, Tyne Bridge, Liverpool Town Hall, London’s i360 and many more, all to promote the NSPCC and help raise money to support the charity and Childline.

Years on from her first phone call to Childline, Grace said she will be “forever grateful for the hope and support” given by our counsellors.

She said: “They helped me with advice on how to cope, what to do and, eventually, how to move on. I hate to think what I would have done without those conversations.

“No matter when you call, you know the person on the end of the line cares about you.

"Childline was like the parent I wished I had. They helped me through the darkest times.”

It might seem like an unwinnable fight, but 90% of our funding comes from the public and every penny from every bake sale, sparkly jumper day or bucket collection really does make a difference.

It costs £4 for one of our specially-trained counsellors to answer a contact from a child in their darkest hour, and by supporting the NSPCC this Christmas, you can help us to answer more calls from children who are in a dark place.

To find out more about how you can help the NSPCC this Christmas, go to https://www.nspcc.org.uk/christmas/