"Do you ever hear what happened to a child?" Olivier asks Marije from the Children's Helpline Foundation. Last Friday, he and his brother Tom, both members of the Children's Stamps Panel, visited the Children's Helpline headquarters in Utrecht.
Did you know that Kinderpostzegels was involved in establishing the Children's Helpline? The first hotline was opened in Amsterdam, and twenty other locations soon followed. In 1983, the government took over.
Tom and Olivier were able to ask the volunteers anything they wanted and were given a peek into the interview rooms just before the lines opened. And, of course, Olivier received an answer from Marije to his question.
Volunteers receive training to cope with the fact that they don't always hear how a child fared. Sometimes they do receive a call back for an update, or mail, such as a drawing, sent to let them know how the situation they called about was ultimately resolved.