JAMIE Barkley is clear why he wants to help support NSPCC.

It began when his father disappeared long before he was old enough to get to know him. "My mum was a single parent. I never knew my father and, to be honest, I don't know if he was ever aware that I existed," he says.

When he was eight, his mother got a new partner, who had two daughters already. She moved in with him, in Eastbourne, but Jamie was not welcomed.

"He was relentless in excluding me, to the extent that when I came home from school I wasn't allowed in the house until he got back from work."

Forced to wait outside, he remembers, "my sisters would pass food out the window to me and I'd have to eat on the doorstep".

"There were a couple of occasions when he was physically abusive throwing shoes at me and things like that, but most of all I remember the feeling of just not being wanted," he says.

Jamie is telling of his traumatic childhood to back the Herald's Christmas appeal and the charity which bids to help children who are suffering.

His own troubles as a youngster continued, though life improved when he moved to stay with his granny, at the age of eight-and-a-half, he says.

"Life with my granny was good until, when I was 10 or 11 she was diagnosed with cancer. Six months later my granny passed away and I went to live with [foster carers] Margaret and Paddy."

Looking back, on this period in Edinburgh now, he feels like these two are his real parents, he says. "When I talk about 'mum and dad' I mean my foster parents."

But he was already in a bad place. "I was being badly bullied, I was skipping school and in trouble with the police." Moved to a new school his reputation preceded him and he fell into bad company. "I was 11 or 12 and hanging out with 17 year olds -being moulded by them."

After a fight, he was picked up for an assault. "It wasn't hard for the police to track me down," he adds wryly. "I was one of few black people in the area."

But by that stage he had turned a corner, including developing a passion for competitive breakdancing. Referred to the children's hearing system for his offending, he responded to their encouragement to behave and turn his life around. "I wanted more from my life. Luckily they gave me another chance."

Encouraged by another mentor, he went to Strathclyde University to study marketing, and has now built a career, currently working for Rolls Royce in East Kilbride.

Having a son of his own - Noah, now four - has left him with, if anything, less understanding, of his mother.

"I am besotted with him and I find it hard to picture how my real mum would let me be treated that way. It's made me want so much more for my son and for every other child out there, " Jamie says.

Earlier this year, he ran a marathon to raise funds for the NSPCC. Although he was new to running, a marathon was on his bucket list, he says. But he will continue to support the charity.

"When I hear someone scream-ing at a child or see something that worries me I feel compelled to act - regardless of what the reason is," he explains. "We all have a responsibility to make life better for children. If not us, who will?"

In terms of his own life, he's not looking for sympathy, he says. "I came out of it alright and I am not feeling sorry for myself, but a lot of people don't get that support.

"I want to help NSPCC give kids the opportunity they may not otherwise have."

NSPCC Scotland intervenes to help children at risk of physical , sexual or emotional abuse and neglect.

It provides helplines to offer advice to children who have no-one else to turn to, and to adults who want information on what to do if they are concerned that a child is at risk.

But the charity also carries out preventative work to help parents who are struggling, as well as advising expectant parents about how to cope with a new baby.

This year's Herald's Christmas Appeal will help support all this work and more. If, like Jamie, you want to prevent others from going through what he did, see the panel above on how to help.