Please note: ensuring that you receive the best support is important to us. As such, there is some staff training in place Monday 9th September, meaning the helpline will be open 5pm-8pm on this day.
Support on the Helpline is available by phone, email, webchat through our social media accounts and by letter. Calls to the helpline are free from landlines and mobile phones within the UK and do not appear on itemised bills.
Sometimes our lines are busy. If you can't get through immediately, please do try again or try our one-to-one web chat or send us an email.
If you are in need of urgent help or medical advice for yourself or someone else please contact 999 or the Samaritans on 116 123 if you or someone else is in immediate danger. If you are looking for medical advice contact your GP or 111.
Beat provides Helplines for people of all ages, offering support and information about eating disorders no matter where you are in your journey. These Helplines are free to call from all phones.
Staff will end telephone calls if they consider the caller aggressive, abusive or offensive.
0808 801 0677
0808 801 0432
0808 801 0434
Email support for England:help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Email support for Scotland:Scotlandhelp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Email support for Wales:Waleshelp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Email support for Northern Ireland:
NIhelp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
I've had great experiences when using Beat's Helpline services. The people I have personally spoken to have been very empathetic with all of my needs in my most challenging times.
Got questions about what to expect when calling the Beat Helpline for eating disorder support? We're here to help.
Confidentiality is fundamental to Beat’s services. However, there are some exceptional circumstances where we may pass on information, for example:
To ensure the quality and consistency of our services, support contacts may be monitored.
If you contact our Helpline you will speak to a trained advisor experienced in providing support, information and signposting to people in a similar situation to you. Our helpline is action focused, giving you a space to explore your concerns and identify next steps.
You don’t need a formal diagnosis to use our Helpline
Our eating disorder Helpline advisors are trained to:
I rang the Helpline because I was struggling so much, but the lady I spoke to was so lovely and listened to me. Without the Helpline, I wouldn't have been able to make the step to tell services and get the help I needed.
Beat is a member of Language Line and can provide access to an interpreter on the phone callers whose first language is not English. Support can also be requested in Welsh.
Beat offers support to those in prison via its freephone telephone Helpline and also via post.
Letters should be addressed and sent to :
FAO Helpline
BeatUnit 1 Chalk Hill House19 Rosary RoadNorwichNorfolkNR1 1SZ
It took a lot for me to call Beat; I was so nervous but I am so glad I did. Sitting here now knowing I am three years in recovery, I owe my life to Beat. If it wasn’t for the Helpline and making that initial call I really don’t know where I would be now.
Beat is a member of the Helplines Partnership, the membership body for organisations that provide Helplines in the UK and internationally.
Beat’s Helpline is a member of Child Helpline International, a network of over 180 organisations supporting children via helplines in 139 countries all over the world.
Calls to this helpline are free from landlines and mobile phones within the UK and do not appear on itemised bills.