Daniel Radcliffe becomes 'Best Friend' of young people's national helpline Get Connected
Howard Lake | 18 September 2009 | News
Actor pledges his support for the UK charity which provides free, confidential help for vulnerable young people
LONDON, 17th September 2009
Leading UK charity Get Connected has announced that Daniel Radcliffe, the critically acclaimed star of the “Harry Potter” film series and Broadway’s Equus, has confirmed his support and made a generous donation to the signposting service.
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Get Connected is the confidential, free, national helpline for young people under-25 who have a problem but do not know where to find help. Its trained Helpline Volunteers give each young person the emotional support and information they need to choose the best option from the thousands of services available in the UK.
Radcliffe, 20, currently busy on the film set of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, confirmed his support of Get Connected as the charity celebrated its tenth anniversary with a reception at the House of Lords.
Daniel Radcliffe said: “I am delighted to pledge my support for Get Connected, and mark their 10th anniversary by becoming their first Best Friend. The free confidential helpline finding young people help for any problem is a vital and unique service. We live in a world that is so full of choice and information; it is often impossible to know where to turn or what to do.
“Get Connected is there for young people in need of help no matter what the issue, from eating disorders to abuse, homelessness to pregnancy. I see Get Connected as much more than just a gateway for information; it is a friend to thousands of young people across the UK. I also support The Trevor Project, which is America’s leading national organisation focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. As with Trevor, I hope that my support can raise the visibility of Get Connected so that even more young people become aware that there’s help on hand.”
Get Connected fields 70,000 calls each year and over 20,000 young people are connected for free to the help, via phone, email and webchat, with a further addition to the service, WebHelp 24/7 for online self-help, launched this week.
Fiona Clark, Interim Chief Executive of Get Connected, added: “We feel extremely privileged that Daniel Radcliffe has chosen to support Get Connected and help us launch our new Friends scheme in such an exciting way. His generous contribution will assist us immensely as we work towards raising greater awareness among young people and expanding our services to be available for young people whenever they need help.
“We are hopeful that Daniel’s big-hearted commitment will encourage others to follow his lead and also become a Friend of Get Connected to help us make a difference to thousands more young people.”
-Ends-
For further information, contact:
Get Connected
Helen Wood
T: +44 (0)20 7009 2500
he********@ge**********.uk
www.getconnected.org.uk
For information on the ‘Friends’ donor scheme – email fr*****@ge**********.uk
Vanessa Davies – Daniel Radcliffe – UK
T: +44 (0)20 3301 4731
va*****@ro**********.com
Scott Boute – Daniel Radcliffe – US
T: +646-329-6153
sc***@sc********.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.