Developing or reviewing a helpline?

NCVO approved consultant 2012As well as our membership, training courses and masterclasses, THA also offers tailored consultancy services which enable you to benefit from our 15 years of knowledge and expertise in the helpline field.

If you are setting up a helpline, we provide a start-up support package.

If you are looking for telephone support on a specific issue, we provide a mini-consultancy service from £99 + VAT.

We can also work with you in detail on any specific helpline-related area. For example, we recently:

  • helped Gingerbread and National Autistic Society answer more calls by planning their staffing requirements more efficiently
  • strengthened the system that NSPCC uses to measure and monitor outcomes for users of its NSPCC helpline and Childline services
  • assisted Rape Crisis England and Wales to develop and pilot national service standards for their centres
  • identified options for future service models for Help the Hospices
  • helped more than 20 third sector organisations operating within London make the most of their information and communications technology, to help them reach more Londoners.

We can design and deliver an independent survey of your helpline users, identifying what works well and what could be improved from their perspective, and making recommendations on how best to act on their feedback. Our clients in this area include ASBAH and Department for Education.

We can conduct a strategic review of your helpline, re-examining your purpose, performance, promotion and partnerships to increase its chances of surviving and thriving in the future.

Our daily rate for the above type of consultancies starts at £550 + VAT. The total fees depend on the breadth and depth of the project and the extent to which face-to-face meetings and formal presentations are required.

If you are looking for an external review of your helpline using a standardised framework, we can undertake an assessment of the helpline against The Helplines Standard.

What to do next

For more information, contact us on 020 7089 6321 or email at info@helplines.org.uk.