Estonia relaunches chaplain hotline amid steady demand for emotional support
Estonia's chaplain hotline is returning on the number 126 from Friday evening, as demand for emotional support by phone remains high. The service, once state-funded, now runs on a far smaller budget covered by the Tartu Academy of Theology.
Starting Friday, September 25, Estonia's chaplain hotline will again be reachable at the number 126 every evening from 7 p.m. to midnight. The relaunch comes as demand for emotional support remains consistently high: Social Insurance Board (SKA) figures show victim support lines received nearly 1,000 contacts a month in the first half of 2026, with loneliness, anxiety, and relationship or family problems the most common reasons people seek help.
Origins and growth
The chaplain hotline was first set up in June 2020 as a crisis response during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinated by the nonprofit Tartu Academy of Theology (TTA). According to director Siimon Haamer, demand quickly outpaced expectations, reaching 600–700 calls a month by the end of 2020, prompting additional funding from the Ministry of Social Affairs. By the end of March 2022, the line was fielding around 1,000 calls a month, with another 1,000 callers unable to get through because only one chaplain was on duty at a time.
In 2023, SKA merged the chaplain line with its general mental health support service, and budget cuts ended dedicated chaplain counseling the following summer after data showed relatively low demand. Even so, the service logged more than 3,000 calls in 2024, over four-fifths of them from repeat callers.
New operator, tighter budget
When the nonprofit Hingeabi Assotsiatsioon Usaldus ended its own long-running helpline last year, it handed over the familiar three-digit number 126 to the chaplain service. Council member Avo-Rein Tereping said the number was unique in Europe, and the chaplain hotline was a natural successor since its approach fits traditional helpline principles.
From late September, around 30 professionally trained chaplains will staff the nightly hours on a volunteer basis. Haamer noted that calling is often an easier, anonymous way for people to seek help, and that the phone line lets people reach out from anywhere. The service, however, now operates on a much smaller budget: it previously received almost a quarter of a million euros a year from the Ministry of Social Affairs, but its current annual budget is just €25,000, covered by the Tartu Academy of Theology. Anne Randväli, head of the ministry's Department of Mental Health, said state funding is instead focused on the nationwide hotlines 116 006 and 116 123.
