Ashley Agnew's older brother Gary Clements was only 12 years old when he took his own life.

The boy she described as her "big protector" had dropped her off at the school gates just hours earlier, but when she returned she found out Gary, who was two years older than her, was dead.

"I was in shock, just a few hours before he walked me to school and told me that he loved me, so you don't believe it when they tell you six hours later that your brother is gone."

There were no outward signs that the outgoing and funny boy from Drumchapel, who had just started secondary school in 1998, was struggling.

"Right up until ten minutes before he was found he was still joking, still carrying on and just being Gary," Ashley remembers. "Then all of a sudden they couldn't get the bathroom door opened and he was gone."

Ms Agnew is speaking as Childline releases figures showing over 900 calls to their service last year from children with thoughts of suicide.

The service, launched by TV personality Esther Rantzen, is counselling 18 Scottish children every week, with some as young as ten years old.

Ashley remembers Gary as always 'carrying on' with the family, enjoyed football and joking around. But his main passion was animals.

"He was a character. He was just a normal 12-year-old who was always up to mischief and always playing pranks," Ashley said. "He loved animals and was always out with his friends flying pigeons. He was just a normal boy."

The day of his passing seemed normal too, she says, as Gary came home from school claiming to his mother and her friend that he had to finish his homework and being his normal chirpy self.

"All of a sudden things went quiet and my mum couldn't find him in the house. Then she noticed the bathroom door was locked."

After a neighbour helped to break down the door they discovered Gary, not yet even a teenager, had hanged himself.

His death has had a lasting effect on the family.

"The devastation that's left behind, how do you come back from that? Life changed overnight," she says.

"I went from going to school one morning and having a brother to going home and being an only child."

Ashley herself was forced to change to take on responsibility and help her mother.

"My mum was so consumed in grief that for many years I almost had to become the parent, so then I never had a childhood the way I should have."

Gary left no note giving any motivations behind his death, and the family were left with more questions than answers.

"I suppose everybody has got their own thought on why he could've. There was no reason left behind; there were no signs leading up to it, he was just a happy, normal 12-year-old boy."

"Just tell us what was going through your head", Ashley would have asked him. "How does a 12-year-old child decide that life ends that day?"

Elaine Chalmers of Childline Scotland says: "We have to understand why so many children are reaching such a desperate emotional state that they feel they have no option but to end their lives.

"As a society, we cannot be content that a generation of children feel so worthless, alone and cut off from support. It is up to all of us to help them feel that life is worth living."

Now a mother herself, Ashley is using her grief and the death of her brother to help others who may be in a similar situation, by training to become a councillor.

"I've dealt with my own grief and I want to make a difference now," she said.

"I want to help other children in situations and if I can stop one child from doing that then something good eventually came of it."

Her advice to young people with suicidal thoughts? Pick up the phone to Childline.

Ashley added: "If your family is too close to speak to them about what is in your head pick up the phone, you can go on the website, you can send them emails, there's always somebody there 24 hours a day.

"You don't have to know somebody personally to tell them your story and get help."

If you have been affected by suicide, or are seeking help and support for issues outlined in this article, you can contact Samaritans or Childline.