BSL service wins national award

Helplines in Scotland swept the board at this year's BT/THA Helpline Awards at the BT Tower in London.  Phone line workers were commended for their achievements in offering confidential support services to the public within the non-profit helpline sector across the UK.

This year a Scottish helpline and a Scottish charity won two of the four categories, and two Scottish finalists were shortlisted for awards. 

Breathing Space won an award for their innovative web-cam based service which allows Deaf people to communicate directly with helpline advisers in British Sign Language about their emotional and mental wellbeing. A webcam is set up alongside the phone line service and two BSL advisers assist alongside existing staff. There were a number of challenges setting up a Deaf service within a phone service setting that puts so much emphasis on 'hearing'. Collaboration with the Deaf community was essential.  

Runner-up in the Innovative Use of Technology category was Edinburgh Nightline’s Instant Messaging Service. Edinburgh Nightline offers a through-the-night helpline service aimed at students in Edinburgh. The student community can be a small one, where everybody knows everyone else, so the introduction of instant messaging allows students to seek help more anonymously.

Seventy-year-old Alice Young won the award for Volunteer of the Year.  Based at the NSPCC’s ChildLine Service in Scotland’s Glasgow office, Alice has been volunteering for seven years. 

West Lothian-based Ruth Lang of Depression Alliance Scotland came runner-up in the Helpline Staff Member of the Year category. Ruth has worked for Depression Alliance Scotland for 11 years.

Rekha Wadhwani, Chief Executive of The Helplines Association, said: “The BT/THA Helpline Awards give us an opportunity to recognise and reward helplines which are committed to high quality standards. We are delighted that the helplines showcased in the awards this year embrace technology in innovative ways, and collaborate with each other to provide a better service to the public.”

 Beth Courtier, BT’s Community Investment Programme Manager, said: "BT has supported the THA since 1996, supporting its aim of providing advice, consultancy and training to helpline services in both the voluntary and statutory sectors.  And the THA Awards are a great opportunity to recognise and reward those who give their time to providing vital public services.”

Every year UK helplines handle more than 29million calls, some 2.6million emails, and almost 1.8million text and instant messages on a vast array of health, social welfare, public service or educational issues. 

The Helplines Association (THA) is the umbrella organisation for non-profit helplines across the UK and Ireland, and works to ensure that every caller receives the best possible service when calling a helpline.

BT supports THA as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility to grow its business in a way that benefits its customers and society using communications technology to help tackle social and environmental challenges.

To find out more about how the Helplines Association works to achieve the highest quality response to all those seeking information, advice and help go to www.helplines.org.uk.  For more information on BT’s Corporate Responsibility visit www.bt.com/betterworld