Financial challenges to close collective body for children’s charities after 81 years
Melanie May | 20 September 2023 | News
Children England is to close later this year, its trustee board has announced, due to financial challenges.
The trustees made the closure decision at the end of August, and has notified the Charity Commission. It currently expects to close at the end of December this year.
Children England has been the independent voice of the children and families’ voluntary sector since 1942. It began as the National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations (NCVCCO): a collective of charity children’s homes set up to influence government in its plans for the welfare state and the creation of the Children Act 1948.
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Experts from the charity were later seconded into the Whitehall teams leading on the Children Act 1989, and Children Act 2004.
Other work has included highlighting how the operation of markets and commissioning have impacted on services for children, and spearheading the ‘Keep Profit Out of Child Protection’ campaign in May 2014, which overturned government plans to enable the outsourcing of child protection functions to the private sector. Most recently, Children England created the ChildFair State Inquiry, a research and policy development programme led and conducted by young people, whose “Vision for a ChildFair State” report launched in May 2023.
NCVCCO became Children England in 2008 and government funding for the organisation ceased in 2013.
Children England plans to find other homes for some of its work before it closes, such as the 4in10 programme, which focuses on children in poverty in London. This is currently hosted by Children England, which says it has ongoing funding commitments that will enable it, and its team of three staff within Children England, to transfer to a new charitable host.
Kathy Evans, Children England’s CEO, said:
“No CEO wants to close the organisation they love and feel responsible for, but I am proud of the decisiveness of our Board in knowing when it’s time to call it a day. In the extraordinarily difficult economic circumstances the whole nation is experiencing we know that many other charities, businesses and public services are facing similar mathematical impossibilities in trying to find ways to juggle the bills, the income and the security that all employers and employees need, just to stay afloat.
“We know we aren’t the first, nor likely to be the last, purposeful organisation that has had to grasp the necessity of closing this year, despite still believing passionately in the value and importance of what they do. Our profound concern about what’s happening to all charities and public services in this pernicious economic context will outlast our ability to continue campaigning about them.
“Throughout the last decade Children England has been loudly calling out the avoidable impacts of austerity on children, families, and the services and support they should still be entitled to expect. We’ve persistently offered the kind of systemic solutions and creative policy reforms that could stem and reverse the devastating impact of state disinvestment in our children and their futures. But governments and politicians still aren’t listening.”
David Holmes CBE, Children England’s Chair said:
“The Board of Trustees have taken the difficult decision to close Children England while we are still in a position to preserve its very substantial legacy. Key aspects of its work such as its funded 4in10 project and the compelling vision and proposals that its Young Leaders recently set out for a ChildFair State will be found caring new homes within our sector. We will also do all we can to gather, share and celebrate the collective wisdom of this small but brilliant organisation before we finally close in a few months’ time. Children England may be closing but the collective commitment to the children’s charity sector of Kathy Evans its fantastic CEO, its staff, its Board of Trustees, its members and its many supporters will live on far into the future.”
Sarah Vibert, CEO of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), commented:
“Children England is the latest example of charity trustees taking the difficult decision to close. Unfortunately, they will not be the last. This winter is, once again, set to be tough for the voluntary sector and concerns are growing that while many will be able to make it through the season, the services we collectively provide as a sector will need to be significantly reduced or stopped to keep the lights on.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.