HemiHelp

🎅🎄 Christmas & New Year helpline opening hours 🎄🎅

As the festive period approaches, we want to let families know about our advice and information helpline opening hours over Christmas and where to find support while our service is closed.

Our helpline will close at 2pm on Christmas Eve (Wednesday 24 December) and will reopen at 9.30am on Friday 2 January 2026.

During this time, our email inboxes, web forms, live chat, and social media pages will be unmoderated. If you contact us while we’re closed, we’ll respond as soon as possible after we reopen.

You can still find lots of trusted advice on our website at any time. Our chatbot, Charlie, is available 24/7 to help guide you to information quickly and easily.

If you need to speak to someone urgently, the following services are available throughout the festive period:

💚 Samaritans – 116 123 (24/7)
💚 CALM – 0800 585858 (5pm–midnight)
💚 SHOUT – Text 85258 (24/7)
💚 The Trussell Trust – Find your nearest food bank for emergency food support - https://www.trussell.org.uk/emergency-food/find-a-foodbank

Scotland: Our Scotland enquiry service is closed from 18 December, reopening 5 January. Support is available via Children First (0800 028 2233) and other national services.

Northern Ireland: Our NI office is closed from 18 December, reopening 5 January. Lifeline NI is available 24/7 on 0808 808 8000.

Wales: Our Wales office is closed from 24 December, reopening 5 January. Support is available from Family Lives (0808 800 2222) and via Fareshare Cymru’s community food map.

We know Christmas can be a difficult time for many families. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the services above if you need support, and we’ll be here again as soon as our offices reopen 💚

Our UK-wide advice and information helpline will close at 2pm on Christmas Eve (24 December) and reopen at 9.30am on Friday 2 January 2026.

While we’re closed, our emails, web forms, live chat and social media pages will be unmoderated. We’ll respond as soon as we can once we reopen.

You can still find advice on our website at any time, and Charlie the chatbot is available 24/7 to help you find information.

Find out where you can access support this festive period here 👇

Christmas opening hours for our advice and information helpline services Contact's helpline will close at 2pm on Christmas Eve, Wednesday 24 December and will re-open at 9.30am on Friday 2 January 2026.