The broadcaster turned a 1986 television investigation into Childline, a helpline that has since delivered more than six million counselling sessions to children.
Dame Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster and founder of Childline, has died aged 86, her family confirmed on September 30, 2026. Rantzen became one of Britain’s best-known television figures through the BBC consumer affairs programme That’s Life!, but her most enduring legacy came from creating a service that gave children a confidential place to ask for help.
Her death comes weeks before Childline’s 40th anniversary. The NSPCC, which has operated Childline since the two organisations joined forces in 2006, said the service has supported children across the UK and the Channel Islands through more than six million counselling sessions, with millions more reached through its online resources. The Childline model has also been replicated in 150 countries.
How Esther Rantzen Started Childline
The origins of Childline can be traced to a That’s Life! episode broadcast on March 16, 1986, which focused on child sexual abuse. According to the NSPCC, a helpline was established immediately afterwards and received about 100 calls within 48 hours, alongside thousands of letters. Many came from children describing abuse and distress.
Rantzen recognised that the response pointed to a much larger problem. On October 30, 1986, Childline launched as a nationwide, 24-hour helpline. The demand was immediate: the NSPCC says around 50,000 attempted calls were made on its first night.
That original service has since evolved into a multi-channel support system. Childline now offers free and confidential support to anyone under 19 in the UK by phone, online messaging and one-to-one counsellor chat. Its phone number is 0800 1111.
Childline Grew Far Beyond the Original Telephone Helpline
One of the less obvious parts of the Childline founder Esther Rantzen story is how much the service changed as children’s lives moved online.
Childline launched online support through Childline.org.uk in 2009, following earlier work on internet safety. Its services now include digital resources and online counselling alongside the original telephone service.
The organisation says a child currently contacts Childline, on average, every 45 seconds. As it approaches its 40th anniversary, Childline operates from 12 bases in the UK and continues to use trained staff and volunteer counsellors.
The service also became part of a larger child-protection infrastructure. In 2006, Childline formally joined the NSPCC, allowing the two organisations to combine their resources and reach more children.
Esther Rantzen Built Another National Helpline
Rantzen’s charity work did not end with Childline. In 2012, she founded The Silver Line, a helpline created to support older people experiencing loneliness and isolation. Her charitable work across children’s welfare and later-life support was part of the reason she was made a Dame in 2015.
She also remained closely associated with Childline for decades. The NSPCC says she served as its president and continued to champion the service and the importance of listening to children.
In July 2025, Rantzen received the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement at the Charity Awards in recognition of her work founding Childline and The Silver Line and her wider campaigning.
Her Final Years Brought Another Public Campaign
Rantzen announced in 2023 that she had stage-four lung cancer. In the years that followed, she became an outspoken campaigner for assisted-dying reform in England and Wales. In September 2026, she said she had become too physically fragile to travel to Switzerland for an assisted-dying procedure at Dignitas, a plan she had previously discussed publicly.
Her family said Rantzen died surrounded by those close to her. They described her as a devoted mother and grandmother and highlighted the lasting importance of her work with Childline and The Silver Line.
For Childline, her death arrives at a significant moment. The organisation is preparing to mark 40 years since its launch in October 1986, with a national anniversary programme and a December celebration at St Paul’s Cathedral. The NSPCC says Rantzen’s daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, is taking on a greater role in carrying forward her mother’s vision for the service.
Rantzen’s career began in television, but the most measurable part of her legacy sits beyond the screen: a service created after one programme prompted thousands of people to speak about child abuse, and which has since become an established part of child support in the UK and a model used internationally.
