The "Chat Your Value" handbook


Published by IFOTES on 28 February 2023
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Reaching young people via chat

A handbook of best practices for helplines


It is clear today that the best place to reach young people is in a digital environment

Helplines should first and foremost be accessible to people in need. The medium they use to reach callers is secondary to the fact that they must be reached. All helplines that have started offering some forms of online help have seen it become so successful that demand exceeds supply. This encourages emergency services to also offer the listening service through chat. 


This handbook, produced within the “Chat Your Value - Crisis Help-lines Assisted by Trained Young Volunteers” project, funded by the European Union, presents a number of good practices already implemented by helplines at European level, encouraging youth involvement in listening services through the internet.

It also contains reflections and recommendations for how to further develop perspectives and methods that allow young people to approach the listening service, both as volunteers and as users.


The handbook is available open source in English, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Spanish and Flemish on IFOTES web-page.