Christmas opening hours for our advice and information helpline services
3 mins read
Monday 15 December 2025
Contact’s UK-wide helpline will close at 2pm on Xmas Eve Wednesday 24 December and will re-open at 9.30am on Friday 2 January 2026.
If you need to speak to someone when our helpline is closed, the following national support organisations may be helpful:
- Samaritans Freephone: 116 123 open 24 hours every day throughout the festive period
- CALM Freephone: 0800 585858, open 5pm till midnight throughout the festive period
- SHOUT Text: 85258, open 24 hours a day, confidential text support service.
- The Trussell Trust is a nationwide network of food banks and provide emergency food and support to people in poverty. Find your nearest Trussell Trust food bank.
Sending emails, web forms and asking questions on our social media pages and private Facebook group
Many parents choose to send us helpline emails, submit a website enquiry or post on our Facebook and Twitter pages. These pages and email accounts, and live chat will be unmoderated during the same period as our helpline closure.
If you ask a query during this period, we’ll respond as soon as we can after our office reopens on 2 January 2025. Whilst the helpline is closed, you can find lots of advice and support on our website. You can use Charlie the Chatbot, who lives on the bottom right-hand side of our website, to guide you through our information and advice quickly and easily, whenever you need it – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our Live Chat option on our website is not available from 2pm on 24 December to 4 January 2026 inclusive.
For families in Scotland
Contact’s Scotland enquiry service is closed from Thursday 18 December and reopen on Monday 5 January at 9.30am. While our service is closed the following organisations may be useful to you:
Children First Support Line on 0800 028 2233
Scotland’s Domestic Abuse & Forced Marriage Helpline 0800 027 1234
More information including tips on looking after yourself this winter is available from Parent Club.
For families in Northern Ireland
Contact’s NI office will be closed for the winter holidays from Thursday 18 December and reopen on Monday 5 January at 9.30am.
Lifeline NI: 0808 808 8000 is available 24/7, 365 days a year, including Christmas Day.
For families in Wales
Our Wales office will be closed from Wednesday 24 December and reopen on Monday 5 January.
You can get in touch with Family Lives on 0808 800 2222 (Closed Christmas & Boxing Day, New Years Day) or visit their website.
Fareshare Cymru has a community food provisions map which helps you explore a wide range of alternative food provision across Wales. From community pantries and luncheon clubs to growing projects and food-sharing schemes, this tool makes it easy to find what’s happening near you.
