A web site has been launched to provide information and advice for young people and enable them to receive real-time, online counselling.

The there4me site has been designed by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) specifically for children aged 12 to 14.

It covers a broad range of issues important to this age group, including child protection.

It has been developed in conjunction with Micro-soft, which has been supporting the NSPCC since 1994.

The two-year development period included a pilot scheme in Sussex and Surrey.

Bridget Langford, area children's services manager for Sussex and one of three counsellors on the pilot scheme, said: "When we began we had very different ideas about the validity of the service and whether we had the computer skills to make it work. But it has worked very well."

She said online counselling required different skills from face-to-face and telephone counselling.

She said: "You don't get facial or verbal clues online and sometimes the children would, for various reasons, leave the site then return later for a further discussion. This can be quite off-putting at first."

The site's services, which are constantly monitored, include Ask Sam, an online agony aunt who responds to emails and puts the answers on a web page for the benefit of all users and the Got a Problem? page, which offers general advice.

The Private In-box allows users to access their own inbox, from which they can send messages to a there4me adviser and receive confidential replies.

The 1-2-1 service allows children to log on anonymously, with a unique nickname and password, to talk in private with an online counsellor.

Another page, Games, provides some light relief while doubling as a cover should the young person need privacy while visiting the site in a public area.

In addition to seeking help from Microsoft, which advised on the technology, and the National High Technology Crime Unit, the NSPCC sought help and advice from a number of other organisations working with children and young people.

One of the major challenges was to guarantee the web site was secure.

Ms Langford said: "There has been lots of testing by the kind of technical people who can get into anything and even they couldn't hack the site."

Head of there4me Pat Marsland said: "This is a service children value because they can talk about things worrying them while remaining anonymous if they wish to do so.

"In this way, we can reach out to children who might otherwise not seek help and offer them advice on safety and protection. There4me will give children confidence to seek help."

www.there4me.com