 Ms Rantzen set up Childline in 1986 |
The founder of Childline, Esther Rantzen, is visiting the charity's East Midlands branch amid fears it may close due to a funding crisis. Volunteers at the Nottingham office have started a petition, saying they do more hours of counselling than any other regional centre.
Ms Rantzen is visiting the centre on Monday to listen to their concerns.
About 1,000 children call the office every day, but not all the calls get through because of a lack of funds.
'Redundancies possible'
Nottingham was the first regional base outside London, and covers the East Midlands and East Anglia.
It is one of ten counselling centres around the UK.
The London centre operates a 24-hour service, but during peak hours when the other centres are open, children's calls go through to the nearest centre.
The charity claims around 4,000 children call every day, but lack of funds means only 1,800 of them get through
Managers say they have a shortfall of �200,000 in funding nationally and admit redundancies may have to be made.
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