Robin's earliest memory is being taught to memorise the telephone number of the local police station by her grandmother for when things "got out of hand" at home.

Her parents - both alcoholics - struggled to look after themselves, let alone their children. The marriage was badly fractured but their religious upbringing meant divorce was not an option.

"I'd be up during the night, calling the police to intervene in some truly brutal acts of domestic violence and cleaning up afterwards - that was the first 10 years of my life," said Robin, whose name has been changed.

"My dad would kidnap me and my sister and use us to torment my mother. He'd put me on the phone to mum and, of course, I didn't know what was going on - she'd be crying and screaming. That only stopped when my mum attempted suicide."

It is a heartbreaking story that highlights the importance of The Herald's Christmas fundraising appeal in aid of the leading child protection charity NSPCC Scotland.

Life could have been very different for Robin if a service like ChildLine, run by the NSPCC, had been available. The free and confidential helpline, set up in 1986, receives calls from thousands of Scottish children each year and delivers tens of thousands of counselling sessions.

There is also the NSPCC's adult helpline, which gives members of the public, parents, carers and professionals free advice and support if they have concerns a child may be being abused or otherwise at risk. This service has also increasingly provided support to victims of childhood abuse.

Robin, now 46, recalls how her school work suffered and she found it difficult to function in daily life. She later attempted suicide and fell into a dysfunctional pattern of being bullied, bullying or completely disengaging in her teenage years.

"I performed badly, was in and out of remedial classes - and all the stigma that entailed - so it was a complete spiral," she said.

After her mother died in an accident and her father re-married, any hope things might improve living with his new wife was quickly extinguished. "It transpired she was abusive too," said Robin, who grew up in Glasgow. "At school there was a lot of stereotyping, calling me a tramp because of the way I looked," she added. "It had been bad enough when my mother was alive - I remember regularly being sent home from primary school for smelling of body odour and urine - but when she died it was just us. I had one pair of trousers which I had to sew up before I went into school in the mornings."

Sarah Paterson, 23, from Forres, has been a volunteer counsellor for ChildLine in Aberdeen for the past two years. She is currently studying social sciences at Aberdeen University.

"I was really lucky and had a good childhood, but not everyone is that fortunate," she said. "It's so important to give these children some extra support that they aren't getting in their lives. Some of the things you do hear can be really difficult to listen to, but it makes you realise that without ChildLine these children would have no-one to turn to."

HOW TO DONATE TO OUR APPEAL

To donate £4 to NSPCC Scotland and help protect children, please text HERALD to 70744 or to donate online please visit nspcc.org.uk/herald

For terms and conditions, please visit nspcc.org.uk/smsterms.

Contact us online for more information at nspcc.org.uk or email events@nspcc.org.uk for ways to get involved. You can also send to NSPCC Scotland, Templeton House, 62 Templeton Street,

Glasgow, G40 1DA. Cheques should be made out to NSPCC Scotland.