Remember, we're a confidential service.

How to cover your tracks for viewing this site.

Call or text for free on 116000

What if things haven’t changed?


We hope what you see here helps.  If you are feeling like running away or are away from home, we are here to listen.

Call or Text 116 000. For free and in confidence.

If you are away from home and thinking about going back, you might be worrying that things will be the same and the problems at home you had before are still there.

You may think that people are lying if they say that things will be better or have changed, or you might be convinced that any changes won’t last.

Maybe in the past, you have told people about the problem and they said they would help, only for them to not help or listen, or even make things worse.

It might be that you feel like it’s you who needs to change; maybe you want to control your emotions or feel so low you feel like hurting yourself. Maybe you can’t help but cause arguments or do things which get you into trouble.

If things need to change for you to be happy to stay at home, then people need to understand you.

If you have told people what you want to happen and they have promised things will be better, then it would be great to be able trust that this was true. Probably the only way to find out is to go back and see.

We would never encourage you to back to somewhere that is unsafe or where you are made to do things you don’t want to.  We can help you to talk to someone who can find somewhere safer for you to stay.

If you do want to go home and you want things to change, it is important that we help you find ways of telling people so they know what you need. If you don’t feel you can talk to them yourself, we can pass messages or help you talk via a Three Way Call.

If you feel you need some support to change something about yourself, there are lots of services we link to on this website who might be able to help. Have a look in our Advice section.

If you can’t find what you were looking for or would like to talk anything through, we are here.

Are you thinking of running away because you have been affected by What if things haven’t changed??
Get in touch with us
Share this article

It looks like you’re accessing this website from outside the United Kingdom.

The Runaway Helpline can only provide services to children and young people within the United Kingdom, and information and advice on this site relates to the UK only.

I understand