CHILDLINE’s Manchester base experienced a spike in calls the week following the arena attack.

The service received more than 200 calls that week with many callers under the age of 11.

Anna Krala, Childline service manager for the Manchester base in Salford, was working the morning after the attack and was amazed to see the support and willingness of the volunteers.

From May 22 to 28, the case had just over 200 calls that mentioned the Arena attack, the majority were not from children who had been at the concert, most just wanted to talk about it.

Of those who called the service that week, 16 per cent were aged 11 and under, 49 per cent were 12-15 and the rest 16-18. 82 per cent of the calls came from girls.

Ms Krala said: “My biggest memory was that we had volunteers turning up for shifts that weren’t supposed to be on shift and our counselling room was full and we had volunteers who didn’t want to go home.

“We had to send them home.

“The support here was amazing and it was quite emotional in the room, we wanted to support each other.

“We did have counsellors who had people they knew at the arena. We were supporting each other and the young people.

“The room was so busy, it was kind of a ‘wow’ feeling.”

The Manchester base has 12 supervisors managing a team of 141 volunteers who operate on shifts, providing a 24 hour a day service for young people in the region.

Ms Krala described some of the topics of the calls.

She said: “A lot of the issues that arose were from young people that didn’t understand what had happened and why?

“There was a great deal of anxiety and fear, people asking ‘why had it happened?’

“We struggle as adults to understand why, so for a child that’s expanded greatly.”

The words most frequently used by callers after the attack were ‘worried’, ‘scared’ and ‘terrified’.

Ms Krala said: “A lot of young people were saying they didn’t want to go anywhere in a big city or go shopping and they didn’t want to go outside.

“A lot would say, ‘I don’t know what to say, I’m supposed to go shopping with my mum’.

“We would say, ‘it’s okay to have these feelings, it’s understandable and normal’.”

Ms Krala advised that the coming anniversary may provoke anxiety again for young people.

She advised parents to talk to their children about it and to listen to what their children were saying and to talk in ways their child will understand.

Resources can be found at childline.org.uk and Childline can be called on 0800 1111.