­Teacher Support Cymru’s 2009 Report was released this week with figures for the year showing that Welsh teachers show a greater preference for their Support Line than in the rest of the UK. It is available here.

19 per cent of service use in Wales last year took place over the bilingual, free, confidential, 24/7 Support Line. For the rest of the charity Group, which includes England, Teacher Support Scotland and the College and University Support Network, seven per cent of interactions with teachers and other educational professionals took place over the phone.

Despite the popularity of the Support Line, other support services in Wales also grew in popularity, with use of Teacher Support Cymru’s bilingual InfoCentre – which contains over 1,000 factsheets of advice and information – increasing by 65 per cent on the previous year.

The report also shows that 2009 saw a massive increase in demand for services across the Teacher Support Network Group, with total service use increasing by 84 per cent.

Julian Stanley, Teacher Support Cymru Chief Executive, said: “Demand for Teacher Support Cymru’s services grew again last year. We’re pleased that the bilingual nature of our services have been able to support so many teachers across the country in both Welsh and English, but the figures remind us of how much more work there is to be done.

“2010 represents a crucial year for the charity as we look to further improve the wellbeing of teachers in Wales and attract much needed funding to secure TSC’s long-term future.”