Action for Children

The first boys to be admitted to The Children's Home in 1869

The first 'Children's Home', a renovated stable in Church Street, Waterloo, was founded in 1869 by Methodist minister Thomas Bowman Stephenson, who had been moved by the plight of children living on the street in London. The first two boys were admitted on July 9, 1869.[5] In 1871, the home was moved to Bonner Road, Victoria Park, and girls were admitted. The home was approved by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in the same year. A year later, in 1872, a second home opened in Edgworth, Lancashire.[6]

The homes were divided into small family units run by a 'house mother' and 'house father', which was in marked contrast to the large institutions and workhouses common at the time.[7] Training was also an important aspect. A childcare course was set up in 1878, and the graduates of this program—who were called 'the Sisterhood' or 'the Sisters of the Children'—went on to work in the home.[7]

An industrial school at Milton, Gravesend, was taken over in 1875, and a children's refuge in Ramsey on the Isle of Man was established in 1882. With the opening of the Princess Alice Orphanage in Birmingham the home was renamed 'Children's Home and Orphanage'.[6]

Further properties in Alverstoke, Hampshire; Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; Frodsham, Cheshire; and Bramhope near Leeds were acquired, and, by 1908, the charity had grown to become the 'National Children's Home and Orphanage'.[6][7]

In 1913, work began on a large site in Harpenden, which became home to over 200 children, with a print shop for apprentices. It subsequently became the charity's head office.[8]

Many other new branches and schools were founded, including the first residential nursery branch in Sutton Coldfield in 1929[6] and the first Scottish branch in Glasgow in 1955.[6] The charity became an adoption agency in 1926.

The Rev. Gordon Barritt, who became the head of NCH in 1969, started the process of closing the organization's children's homes and started to offer support to keep children with their families.[9]

In 1994, the charity changed its name to 'NCH Action for Children'. Fourteen years later, in September 2008, it became 'Action for Children'. The changes were part of the shift away from providing children's homes (most of which have now closed) to a wider range of services.[10]

In December 2016, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, succeeded The Queen as patron of the organization.[11]

The NCH set up a child emigration scheme in 1873, and a branch in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, opened.[6][12] This program of sending children to Canada, where they were called Home Children, has been criticized, and children have been found to have been abused following migration.[13][14] The NCH itself has said that "the experience of migration was profoundly damaging to significant numbers of the children concerned".[12] NCH is estimated to have sent 3,500 children to Canada between 1873 and 1931 and a small number of children to Australia in the 1930s and early 1950s.[13][12][15] The Independent Inquiry found that some children were sent by the NCH without their parents' consent, and that some children who wanted to come back to the UK were not allowed by the NCH to do so.[13][12] The inquiry concluded that, although the NCH's principles of care had been ambitious for the time, some children were placed in "harsh conditions":[13]

The NCH put more measures in place than other institutions to monitor the care being afforded to child migrants. This allowed them to appreciate the poor care being provided to some child migrants in Australia. They then took the commendable decision to halt migration promptly in light of the concerns raised.

Nevertheless, we consider that NCH’s failure during the migration period to ensure that it received more regular reports from the receiving institutions meant that it could not be properly satisfied about some aspects of the care provided. This included the quality and number of staff, and the punishment regimes in place.

The Inquiry also finds that, although the NCH stopped migrating children due to concerns about the adverse conditions, it did not bring back to the UK those children previously migrated.

In these respects, the NCH failed to take sufficient care to protect child migrants from the risk of sexual abuse.

The organization continues to offer an information and record-access service to people who were sent overseas as children under its auspices.[12]

Family: from another place by David Worthington, 2010. Red Iranian Travertine stone, Great Queen Street, London.

Action for Children works in partnership with statutory bodies to deliver services for children, young people, and their families in five main areas:

Action for Children carries out and commissions research into issues around children, young people and families.[21]

The charity also produces a yearly Impact Report,[22] which details research findings on the outcomes and cost effectiveness of its work supporting children and young people.

Action for Children hosted the 2014 Byte Night Overnight Challenge.

Action for Children campaigns and lobbies governments on behalf of vulnerable children and young people and their families.

One of the charity's current campaigns, 'Best Start in Life', seeks to address the issue of children – particularly those from poorer backgrounds – struggling to receive the right early years support. The campaign calls on the government to take urgent action so that children under five do not fall behind, either due to cuts in vital services or unequal access to opportunities.[23]

Action for Children is a member of the Disabled Children's Partnership alongside 27 other charities, working towards better health and social care for disabled children, young people and their families.[24][25]

The charity also leads the children and families work of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness and is a partner of End Child Poverty.[26][27][28]

Action for Children is a founding member of Fostering Through Social Enterprise (FtSE), a consortium of voluntary and non-profit fostering agencies that advocate for children in respect of regulation, as well as representing its membership at central government level.

Action for Children raises money through corporate partnerships, fundraising events (such as sponsored runs) and through its partnership with the British Methodist Church.[29]

The charity is also involved with several large fundraising events, including Byte Night[30] – an IT industry event which raises money to prevent youth homelessness – and Never Mind The Business, a music-based quiz night for business people.

In 2018, Action for Children launched its Secret Santa fundraising campaign.[31] The campaign encouraged the public to become a Secret Santa for a vulnerable child, donating £10 or more to support children in the UK at Christmas.

Because of its links to the Methodist Church, which opposes gambling, before 2003 Action for Children did not accept National Lottery funding.[32]

In 2000 and 2002, the organisation was criticised, including by its own staff, for accepting funding from BAE Systems, an arms manufacturer.[33][34][35]

• Clare Tickell
• Walter Tull

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Action for Children.

• Action for Children's website
• A history of the NCH and details of each of its branches
• Information about the history of NCH branches
• Forum for former NCH residents
• Guardian image gallery showing the charity’s history