Dharshana Ponnampalam, Barnardos 0800 What’s Up Team Leader

This Sunday, Aotearoa celebrates Children’s Day—a day to reflect on the hopes and dreams we have for our tamariki. We celebrate their curiosity, courage, and resilience. We acknowledge their right to be loved, supported, and safe. But for many children, life isn’t safe or easy. And for them, simply being heard can be life-changing.

At 0800 What’s Up, the only helpline in Aotearoa for children as young as 5 and up to 19 years old, we answer calls and chats from children every day. Some reach out because of friendship struggles, stress at school, or whānau conflict. Others need urgent support—more than 1,000 of our calls last year mentioned suicide, and hundreds involved children in immediate danger. These are young people who have found the courage to ask for help, sometimes for the first time in their lives.

Being heard—it’s something that has always been important to me. Growing up in a large household, I quickly noticed how children’s voices were often dismissed, their challenges overlooked. It wasn’t intentional, but it was a reality of trying to fit into an adult world. So, as a child, I promised myself I would do better for tamariki one day.

That fleeting thought became my career. I fell in love with the Person-Centred Approach, early in my tertiary education which values empathy, genuineness, and positive regard. When I discovered 0800 What’s Up, a service dedicated to putting tamariki and rangatahi first, prioritising their version of events without judgment – I knew I’d found my place.

Some of the young people we support contact us regularly over the course of months or even years. One rangatahi first called us around four times a day. She cried every single time. She was processing difficult memories and felt isolated. She didn’t want to “burden” her whānau and had few friends she could trust.

Over time, we supported her in building a mental health toolkit—techniques to manage emotions, ways to challenge negative thoughts, and the confidence to create new, positive memories. By her second year contacting us, she needed our support just once a week. By her third year, she would reach out occasionally when she needed reassurance.

Sometimes it takes a long time for young people to feel ready to open up. Another child connected with us for almost two years before disclosing childhood trauma and abandonment wounds they had suppressed for years. Others use our service because severe social anxiety makes face-to-face help impossible. Some experience family violence making it unsafe to reach out to adults at home. Some have loving parents who lack the time, money, or resources to get them counselling elsewhere. For many, we’re their only option for ongoing support.

For more than 23 years, we have been a lifeline for tamariki and rangatahi. Since our first call, we have responded to more than 1.6 million calls and 29,000 chats. Behind each number is a real child who found the courage to reach out. Every single one of them deserves to be heard.

Yet, despite the urgent need for our service, its future remains uncertain. Recently, the Government confirmed it our helpline would retain its funding – but Government funding still only covers half of our operating costs. While we are deeply grateful for the support of partners like Milford Foundation and OfficeMax, we need sustainable funding to keep answering calls. Without it, our ability to be there for tamariki is at risk.

We know early intervention works. When we support a young person before their struggles become a crisis, we reduce the need for more intensive (and expensive) intervention later. Research from ImpactLab found that for every $1 invested in 0800 What’s Up, we generate $2 of measurable social value—through better mental health outcomes, reduced demand on crisis services, and improved wellbeing for tamariki and whānau.

In other words, funding prevention saves lives and saves money. Losing services like ours doesn’t reduce costs—it simply shifts them elsewhere, often into the future.

On Children’s Day, we don’t just celebrate tamariki—we celebrate their potential. We dream of an Aotearoa where every child has access to the support they need, when they need it.

In a world where public services have long waitlists, school counsellors are overworked, and parents are stretched to their limits, we are here: a safe, anonymous space where children can be heard.

Keeping 0800 What’s Up running costs just $1 million per year – a small price for a service that supports over 12,000 children and young people annually. The cost of losing it? Immeasurable.

If you believe every tamariki deserves to be heard, we invite you to stand with us. Your support can mean the difference between a child feeling heard or feeling alone.

Let’s make sure that when a young person picks up the phone, there is someone on the other end. Let’s keep the lights on, day and night, so no child has to wonder where to turn.

Why listening to tamariki matters