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2024/25
The Children’s Society’s
impact and annual report,
and financial statements
Our
impact
“The C
hildren’s
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Society
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h yo are
Society
The young people and practitioners’ stories featured in
this report are true but names and identifying details have
been changed to protect them. All photographs have been
posed by actors.
The Children’s Society is a trading name
of The Church of England Children’s Society.
Charity no: 221124 Company no: 40004
Our impact 2024/25
3
Young trustees’ introduction 6
Chair and CEO’s introduction 8
Our year in review 10
Working with young people 10
Working with parents and carers 11
Youth voice 11
Working for change 11
Building a movement 12
Our finances 12
Where we work 12
Section A: Background 14
1 The need for our work 14
2 How we create impact 16
Our approach to understanding our impact 17
Section B: Our activities and impact 2024/25 18
1 Our direct support 18
Overview 18
Our direct support figures at a glance 18
Early support 20
Overview 20
Early support at a glance 20
Spotlight: RISE 21
Anthony’s story 23
Conclusion 23
Responding to risk 24
Overview 24
Responding to risk at a glance 24
Spotlight: our services working with those impacted
by domestic violence and abuse 25
Conor’s story 27
Conclusion 27
2 Our systems change work and its impact 28
Overview 28
Service-led systems change reach, 2024/25 28
Political influencing activities, 2024/25 28
Spotlight: Action Before Crisis 29
Spotlight: Household Support Fund 30
Spotlight: National Wellbeing Measurement 30
3 Bringing things together 32
Overview 32
Direct support: our open-access, early support hubs 34
Local systems change 34
National policy: Mental Health Support Teams 35
Building the evidence base 35
4 Building a movement 36
Overview 36
Building a movement figures at a glance, 2024/25 36
Showcasing 37
Supporter story 38
Driving lasting change 38
Section C: Looking to the future 40
Our impact going forward 40
Our future impact in numbers 41
Our impact fund 41
Time for young people, Newham 42
Our new service: Space to grow 43
Our future growth and major appeal 44
United in our mission 44
Section D: Financial review 46
1 Income 46
2 Expenditure 47
3 Fixed assets 47
4 Investments 47
5 Cash and working capital 48
6 Reserves 48
Unrestricted funds 48
Designated funds 48
Pension reserve 49
Restricted funds 49
Endowment funds 49
Section E: Governance and management 50
1 Governance compliance and information 50
1.1 Legal status and objectives 50
1.2 Public benefit 50
1.3 The board of trustees 50
1.4 Delegation and committees 51
1.5 Section 172 (1) Statement 52
1.6 Young trustees 53
2 Social 54
2.1 Modern slavery 54
2.2 Safeguarding children, young people, and vulnerable adults 54
2.3 Our people 55
3 Wider governance 63
3.1 Youth voice 63
3.2 Supporter engagement and fundraising 64
3.3 Principal risks and uncertainties 65
3.4 Protecting the environment 66
3.5 General data protection regulation 68
Section F: Statement of responsibilities 69
Section G: Independent auditors’ report 70
Section H: Financial statements 74
Section I: Notes to the financial statements 78
Section J: Corporate information 108
Honorary lifetime membership 113
Thank you to our supporters 114
Glossary 117
Endnotes 119
Contents
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
4 5
Welcome to this year’s annual
impact report
As young trustees, our number having
now grown to seven, we participate
in the governance of The Children’s
Society and are excited to share with
you what we’ve been up to in the last
year. Having various experience levels,
we support each other, ensuring that
young people are kept at the heart
of everything The Children’s Society
does. By having our say as young
trustees, we influence decisions
that are made and the way things
are done, so the impact that The
Children’s Society has on the wider
world has young people at its heart.
We all get involved in dierent
organisational projects, ensuring that
young people’s dierent perspectives
have an impact across the charity.
In this past year, we have:
Ԏattended five Board meetings,
in which we shared our views
about the organisation’s services,
budgets and plans
Ԏinterviewed and helped to appoint
four trustees; two safeguarding
and two marketing roles and had
induction sessions with them
Ԏmet with dierent teams to learn
about what they do
Ԏworked on plans for celebrating
25 years of young trustees at
The Children’s Society.
One project that really stands out for
us in the last year is our work on the
Good Childhood Report 2024, where
we were involved in shaping the policy
recommendations that went with
the report. We attended workshops
where we shared our views on what
problems young people are facing,
and we learned about the dierent
perspectives and backgrounds of
other young people in the workshops.
The research and policy teams at
The Children’s Society then used
our views to help them decide on the
best ways to improve and adapt the
bigger systems in place so that those
systems work better for all young
people in the long run.
Over the next year, we are determined
to keep on making an impact at
The Children’s Society, in lots of
dierent ways. We will be interviewing
for a Chair of the Trustee Board. Not
just by being there in the interviews,
but by being involved in planning,
constructing questions, and, creating
scenarios for them, as well as in having
a say in appointing the successful
candidate. We will continue to hold
trustees accountable, to make sure
they hear young people’s voices
and our views on what to prioritise.
With the most senior members of
the organisation interacting with us,
they have a chance to hear from the
community they’re also serving and be
more aware of young people’s needs.
We are champions for young people, who are in positions
where our voices can be heard, so that we can advocate
for those whose voices aren’t. We will continue to spread
The Children’s Society’s message of hope, showing young
people they’re not alone and there’s light at the end of the
tunnel. The world is forever changing and we will keep on
helping The Children’s Society understand things from
young people’s points of view, so the work it does can have
the best possible impact.
Written by Brogan, Cree, Esther, James, Jo, Muna,
and Rose – young trustees
Young trustees’
introduction
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
6 7
Mark Russell
Chief Executive
Rt Revd
Libby Lane
Chair of Trustees
It is a privilege for us to introduce The
Children’s Society’s annual impact report for
2024/25. Over the past year, this extraordinary
organisation has continued to make a dierence
to the lives of thousands of children and young
people across the country.
We are very proud of our incredible services
which support young people with their
wellbeing, working alongside those who need
it most – for example victims of criminal and
sexual exploitation or domestic abuse, or those
impacted by parental and teenage substance
misuse. Our Young Carers festival, working in
partnership with our friends at YMCA Fairhorne,
continues to give this group of remarkable
young people space to have fun and share
their voice about what needs to change.
The Children’s Society has set an audacious
goal: that by 2030 we will have overturned the
damaging decline in children’s wellbeing, setting
a path for long lasting growth. Yet our 13th
Good Childhood Report published in August
2024 showed a continued decline in children’s
wellbeing. In fact, it included the sobering
finding that, according to OECD Pisa data1,
British teenagers have the lowest wellbeing
in Europe. We had significant media and press
coverage due to the shocking story our report
was telling. In this past year, alongside the Good
Childhood Report 2024, we also published our
Action before Crisis report2 outlining the key
policy changes we believe are needed to truly
shift the dial for children.
Our focus, as articulated in that 2030 goal,
has never been more important, and so in
September of 2024 the board of trustees
approved a refresh to our strategy for the
second half of this decade. Central to our
ambition is the public launch in 2026 of a
major appeal to raise more income – to
increase our reach and grow our campaign
to transform children’s wellbeing for good.
Too many children wait too long for the
support they need, yet we know that the earlier
we support young people, the better their
outcomes – and we reduce the likelihood they
will need further support in the future. Central
to our strategy has been the development of
early support hubs, and our first such hub,
Time for young people, opened in Newham in
September 2024. This amazing space has been
designed with local young people and is already
helping hundreds of children and families in
east London.
Our ambitious strategy, powered by the major
appeal, is to build a network of these hubs
across the UK, and build a strong, demonstrable
case that early support changes children’s lives.
We were encouraged by The Children’s Society
being awarded £1 million from BBC Children in
Need, the largest single grant they have ever
made. This will enable us to roll out our new
Space to grow early support for children aged
8 to 11 years. Significantly this is our first UK-
wide project, and we are thrilled to work with
our partners Children First in Scotland and
MACS in Northern Ireland. The scale and reach
of our ambition marks a pivotal moment for our
organisation, and our team is deeply motivated
by the opportunity to drive lasting, systemic
change for children across the UK.
Alongside Barnardo’s, NSPCC, Action for
Children and National Children’s Bureau, we
continued our work with the Children’s Charities
Coalition to improve our engagement with all
the political parties during the 2024 General
Election. We have been encouraged by the
political engagement we have since had with
Downing Street and the key Secretaries of
State and ministers, and by our opportunities
to influence policy and practice.
A number of changes we have campaigned
for to improve safeguarding were included
in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
(currently going through Parliament), along
with provisions to tighten the law aecting
school uniform costs, something we have
campaigned on for many years. Our call for a
national measurement of children’s wellbeing
has also gained traction, with a growing
movement of partners and supporters joining
us in this important venture. Our work to call
for new criminal oences around child criminal
exploitation was included in the Crime and
Policing Bill (also going through Parliament).
Still, there remains much to keep pressing the
Government on, not least the urgent need to
address the shocking rises in child poverty.
The Children’s Society has been a proud
member of the Independent Inquiry into
Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) Changemakers
group which is a coalition of over 60 charities
committed to campaigning to ensure the
final recommendations of the IICSA are
implemented. In the autumn, we had a positive
meeting with the new Safeguarding Minister,
who has indicated the Government will shortly
publish a roadmap to implement these
recommendations.
This year, Diana Noble CBE stepped down as
Chair of Trustees, and we thank her for her
commitment to The Children’s Society. The
board appointed Bishop Libby Lane, from
among the trustees, to be Chair of the Board for
this year. We are very grateful to all our trustees,
our committee members, and our young
trustees for all they bring to our governance.
We are very conscious that our work is only
possible because we have a truly outstanding
team of sta and volunteers, and we are
powered by the support of thousands of people
and communities across the country. Their
support, their encouragement, their generosity,
is deeply appreciated. We particularly thank
the thousands of parishes and members of The
Church of England whose dedication is earthed
in their faith, and their vision for a better world
for every child.
This annual impact report outlines some of the
progress this truly remarkable organisation
has made over the last twelve months. We are
strengthened by this, and emboldened to do
more in the second half of this decade. Life is
too hard for too many children. Our work has
never been more urgent or more necessary.
Chair and CEO’s
introduction
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
8 9
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
02422 23212019181716151413121110987654321
1
129
180149
191
210
234
310
762
857
1108
1214
1030
899
626
457
371
361
167
100
71
20
5
4
2
Working
with young
people
Working
for change
Youth
voice
2024
2025
Gender
Female
Intermediate
Male
Non-binary
Unknown
Gender
4312
17 174
34
4926
Ethnicity
Asian/Asian British
Black/Black British
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups
Not Stated / Unknown, Information not yet obtained
Other ethnic groups
White British
Ethnicity
6624
936
587
606
463
247
At The Children’s Society, we work to transform children and young people’s lives. We support
those experiencing low wellbeing, we are there for those experiencing harm such as abuse,
which includes exploitation, and we fight for children and families to have access to financial
assistance when they are facing challenges. We provide intensive support when it is needed,
we raise awareness of the issues children and young people face, and we work to make the
systems surrounding children and young people better. Together, we create positive impact
for children and young people, so that they can feel hopeful again.
Our year in review, 2024/25
We ran 77 services for children, young people, and their families.
Our services focus on providing early support and responding to risk.
Early support services work with children and young people before challenges
arise, or early on, preventing the need for more intensive support later.
Our services responding to risk help children and young people who have
already experienced more significant diculties so they can process their
experiences and recover.
Through these, we worked with a total of 5 7,6 5 2 children and young
people. This included:
Ԏsupporting 52,025 through early support services
Ԏsupporting 5,627 through our services responding to risk
We reached 48,189 children and young people through events.
We supported 9,463 children and young people through one-to-one
sessions and small group work. Of these:
Breakdown by age3
Figure 1. Breakdown
by gender, ethnicity,
and age of the young
people supported
through one-to-one
work and in small
groups.
We also worked with 3,547 parents and carers:
ԎReaching 1,948 through events.
ԎSupporting 1,599 through one-to-one
sessions and work in small groups.
We continued to build youth voice into all our work across The Children’s
Society – including through our young trustees and their involvement in our
governance and recruitment processes. We supported children and young
people in 359 dedicated youth voice activities such as participation group
sessions within services, interviews with our storytelling team, and events
with policy, advocacy, and influencing colleagues.
We continued our eorts to make the wider systems surrounding children
and young people work better, calling on the government to provide early
support for children and young people’s mental health, better protection from
harm and abuse, and a commitment to end child poverty.
In the last year, we worked with 15,856 professionals, enabling them to better
support children and young people at risk of abuse and harm or struggling
with low wellbeing. Through our services we also ran 1,318 awareness raising
events with professionals.
Last year we published our thirteenth Good Childhood Report – our annual,
state-of-the-nation report on children’s wellbeing in the UK, which draws on
data from Understanding Society4 and our own annual Household Survey.
For our 2024 report we gathered insights from 2,056 children and young
people aged 10 to 17 years, sharing these far and wide – for example with
practitioners and with the Oce for Standards in Education, Children’s
Services and Skills (Ofsted). Our young trustees contributed to the
development of our policy recommendations which followed the 2024
Good Childhood Report, ensuring that youth voice was at the heart of this
advocacy work.
Working
with
parents
and
carers
Figure 1. (cont.)
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
10 11
We had 77,307 supporters last year, who generously
gave their time and money and who spoke out for
change for young people.
We achieved 5,125 pieces of media coverage,
with 19.2 billion potential opportunities to view.
Over 2,200 retail volunteers supported The Children’s
Society in our shops and e-commerce services, and we
welcomed 460 new volunteers across the organisation.
2024/25 2023/24
£000 £000
Total income 42,080 40,307
Total expenditure (42,981) (42,506)
Net income (901) (2,199)
Total funds 45,064 45,965
Funds represented by
Unrestricted 30,120 30,685
Restricted 1,619 1,500
Endowments 13,325 13,780
Our
finances
London
Leeds
Chelmsford
Birmingham
Manchester
Gloucestershire
Nottingham
Newcastle
Norwich
Torquay
Total
income
2024/25
Total
expenditure
Net
income
2023/24
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Building a
movement
Annual spending (millions)
Income/expenditure
Figure 2. Financial performance
2024/25 and 2023/24.
Where we work
Figure 3. Map showing the distribution
of The Children’s Society’s services
across the country.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
12 13
Section A: Background
1 The need for our work
To understand the context in which children and young people are growing
up, we draw on a broad and robust evidence base. We monitor ocial datasets,
review the latest research on childhood experiences, and carry out our own
research and analysis. What all this evidence reveals is deeply troubling: while
many children and young people are flourishing, significant numbers continue
to face enormous challenges.
Children and young people’s wellbeing is declining.
Our analysis for the 2024 Good Childhood Report showed:
Ԏchildren’s5 happiness was significantly lower than just over a decade ago.6
Ԏ15-year-olds in the UK had the lowest average life satisfaction among
15-year-olds across 27 European countries.7
Ԏthe UK had the highest proportion (over a quarter) of 15-year-olds
reporting low life satisfaction.8
Other research9 reminds us that while the Covid-19 pandemic may be
a distant memory for some, it continues to shape the lives and wellbeing
of many children and young people in the UK: 44% of 17- to 18-year-olds
experienced ‘high psychological distress’ in the years following the onset
of the pandemic. That’s a considerable rise from 35% in 2017.10
Our children and young people deserve better.
As well as monitoring children and young people’s wellbeing, we aim to
understand the factors that aect it, to help us identify how we can provide
the most eective support. Looking at evidence of these drivers of wellbeing,
we can see that some of the key systems for enabling a good childhood are
simply not working well enough, putting children and young people
at significant risk of poor life outcomes.
For example, evidence suggests that there are strong links between
being out of school and the risk of harm11 – including being exploited,
which at least 29,610 children and young people experienced in the year
to March 2024.12 Worryingly, the number of children and young people
not in school has risen significantly:
Ԏthe number of suspensions from state-funded schools during the 2022/23
academic year stood at 786,961 – up 36% from the previous year and the
highest figure recorded since the Department for Education began to collect
this data in 2006.13
Ԏthe number of permanent exclusions in the same period increased
even more – by 44% – aecting 9,376 children and young people.14
Ԏthe Education Policy Institute found that, in 2023, up to 300,000
children and young people were missing entirely from education15
(up 40% from 2017).
Ԏmany young people were also not in education, employment or training
in the last quarter of 2024. The ocial total was almost one million 16- to
24-year-olds in the UK.16
Home and family relationships are also crucial for shaping children
and young people’s lives and wellbeing, and relevant evidence shows
similar cause for concern:
Ԏthe 2023/24 school census indicated that there were 53,975 children
and young people identified as young carers, providing care to someone
at home.17 Almost 40% of these were primary school children, highlighting
a substantial proportion of very young carers whose own needs may not
be addressed at home.18
Ԏin 2024, there were 399,460 children and young people assessed
as being in need of children’s social care services – that is around
1 in every 30. This includes young carers, children and young people
with disabilities, and those assessed as being at risk of harm.19
Ԏfigures published last year by the Oce for National Statistics revealed
that, in England and Wales, there were over 570,000 households with
children under 16 where an adult had experienced abuse,20 suggesting
that thousands and thousands of children and young people are witness
to coercive, violent or threatening behaviour between adults at home.
Cutting across all of these issues, poverty remains a persistent and
growing threat, shaping the lives and limiting the opportunities of a growing
number of children and young people. According to ocial data, in the year
to March 2024:
Ԏ4.5 million children and young people (nearly one in three) in the UK were
living in relative poverty, after housing costs21
Ԏnearly one in five children and young people in the UK (18%) were estimated
to be living in persistent poverty in the years 2019 to 2023.22
The evidence paints a stark picture, and it would be easy to feel disheartened.
But, as an organisation, we remain steadfast in our hope for a better life and
improved futures for children and young people. We are determined to grow
our impact with and for young people, fully committed to our ultimate goal
to reverse the long-term decline in children’s wellbeing and create lasting,
systemic change. We will continue to:
Ԏwork with young people to respond to early signs of low wellbeing
Ԏactively challenge and change ineective systems that fail to protect
children and young people from abuse and harm
Ԏfight to reduce child poverty, influencing policy makers to make
change happen.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
14 15
2 How we create impact
There is more demand for our support than The Children’s Society can
provide, given the challenging context we operate in and the ambition of
our goal. To have the impact we know children and young people deserve,
we work in three main ways:
1. Through our services and programmes, we provide direct support
to children, young people and their families, incorporating:
Ԏearly support
Ԏresponding to risk
By providing support early, or before challenges arise in a child or young
person’s life, we prevent them from requiring more intense support later,
for example for their mental health or with the risks associated with abuse
and harm.
However, sadly, some children and young people have already experienced
significant challenges in their lives when we meet them. We provide services
to help them process, recover and move on from the trauma they have
experienced or are experiencing.
Whether our direct support is in the form of early support or responding
to risk, it is a vital part of our work to overturn the damaging decline in
children’s wellbeing.
2. We work to change the systems that shape the context of children
and young people’s lives, aecting their life chances and wellbeing.
This ‘systems change’ work operates at two levels:
Ԏthe local level – working in partnerships to influence professionals
and processes (such as with other third sector organisations,
policing, education, health, and children’s social care) and
encouraging an inclusive and youth-centred approach to
working practices
Ԏthe national level – encouraging government policy makers
and political decision makers to design and implement an
infrastructure that works well for children and young people,
especially the most vulnerable.
Underpinning our local and national systems change work is our drive
to shift public attitudes and narratives, so that children and young people
are truly valued in society and supported to become the best they can be.
3. We build a movement of supporters, partners and allies, which enables
us to do both our direct and systems change work.
Our supporters and partners are crucial in our endeavours to achieve positive
impact for children and young people, oering their time, money and voice in
alignment with our goal. They come from all walks of life and a range of ages,
and support us in so many ways – in our charity shops, at fundraising events,
through campaigns, across media platforms and in local communities. They
raise awareness of the issues children and young people face, and help us
raise vital funds to help us achieve our goal.
Our work is also underpinned by two core principles;
Ԏto take a ‘test and learn’ approach, progressing new initiatives,
continually learning and developing through our work
Ԏto deliver services with and for children and young people.
We believe that when we approach our work with a curious and reflective
mindset, learning and listening to what children and young people tell us –
about their experiences, about our services and about how they perceive and
experience the world around them – we live our values in everything we do:
We are brave, we are ambitious,
we are supportive and we are trusted.
Our approach to understanding our impact
Over the past year, we have remained firmly focused on deepening our
understanding of the dierence we make in the lives of children and young
people. This work is essential: it allows us to assess what is working well,
understand how and why we achieve positive change, and identify where
we can do better.
At the heart of this approach is a commitment to accountability – not just
to our funders, donors, and supporters, but above all to the children, young
people, and families we exist to serve. They deserve robust, transparent
evidence that our approach is delivering the positive change they are
entitled to.
Our impact measurement work centres on reviewing and interpreting
outcomes to build the insight we need to improve our eectiveness. This
involves listening carefully to practitioners and policy experts on the best
methods for tracking children’s and young people’s journeys, as well
as understanding shifts in practice, systems, and policy.
Our strong commitment to continuous improvement drives this work,
guiding the ongoing refinement of our policies, strategies, and actions.
Change
systems
Direct
support
Buil
movement
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
16 17
Section B: Our activities
and impact, 2024/25
1 Our direct support
Overview
Operating from hubs, youth centres, schools, and the community, we support
children and young people to leave our services feeling stronger, better
equipped to thrive, and confident in their ability to navigate life. We help
them feel heard, valued, and included in decisions that shape their futures.
We want them to see real progress in their lives, feel safe, and develop
lasting self-awareness that they can nurture and continue to draw upon.
Our direct support figures at a glance
Children and young people
In the year up to March 2025, we ran 77 services,23 directly supporting
5 7,6 5 2 children and young people, providing much-needed specialist
support to help them through the diculties they face.24 This included:
Ԏproviding specialist support to 9,463 children and young people
through one-to-one or small group work
Ԏreaching 48,18925 children and young people through our events,
such as school assemblies, workshops and open access wellbeing
sessions.
We are proud that those children and young people who fed back their
experiences of working with us rated us highly.
In 2024/25:
Of the 1,142 children and young people who told us about their experiences
of our direct support:
Ԏ97% reported that they were happy with the support they received
Ԏ95% reported feeling able to express their thoughts and feelings
in their work with us
Ԏ98% told us they felt their worker at The Children’s Society listened
to them and included them in discussions
Ԏ93% said they felt the support we gave them helped improve
their situation.
We continue our eorts to improve response rates to our feedback surveys.
Alongside these, we use other methods to understand the outcomes of our
work. These tools not only help us assess our impact eectively, but also
support children and young people to see the progress they are making
throughout their journey with us. One such tool is My Wheel,26 which allows
children and young people, together with their practitioner, to record and
reflect on their journey of change as they move through a service.
Of the 446 children and young people who used our My Wheel outcomes
tool:
Ԏ73% reported an overall improvement across the areas being scored,
which include safety and emotional and mental health.
Parents and carers
We also worked with 3,547 parents and carers through our direct services,
helping them to provide the best support they can for the children and young
people in their care. This included:
Ԏ1,599 parents and carers supported through one-to-one and small
group work
Ԏ1,948 parents and carers reached through events such as
awareness-raising sessions and workshops.
Young people’s voices
Through our youth voice activities, children and young people share their
perspectives in workshops, participation groups and events to ensure
The Children’s Society meets their needs.
ԎYouth voice activities:27 359
Ԏone-to-one and one-o opportunities: 146
Ԏservice-led participation groups: 138
Ԏfunctional groups: 52
Ԏthematic participation groups: 23
Direct support approaches
Our direct work takes two main forms: early support services
and services responding to risk.
Direct
support
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
18 19
Early support
Overview
Our early support services use tailored approaches, such as one-to-one
therapy, youth work, group work in schools, and open access drop-in hubs
in local community settings.
We shape our services in partnership with children and young people wherever
we can. For example, in 2024/25, we established a participation group with five
children and young people who met nine times, during which they developed
video and written resources. They used these to help students in their school
cope with dicult thoughts and feelings.
We always aim to provide safe and welcoming spaces for children and young
people, so they can receive professional help without a lengthy referral process
or a long wait.
Figures at a glance
In 2024/25, we ran 40 early support services, working with 52,025 children
and young people. These included:
Ԏ46,720 children and young people reached through events
Ԏ5,305 children and young people supported through one-to-one
and small group work.
We also reached 2,446 parents and carers through our early support services:
Ԏ1,203 reached through events
Ԏ1,243 supported one-to-one or in small groups.
The feedback from children and young people who used our early support
services in the year to March 2025 shows that our work in this area is having
a positive impact. Of the 578 who completed a feedback survey:
Ԏ97% reported that they were happy with the support they received
Ԏ93% reported feeling able to express their thoughts and feelings
in their work with us
Ԏ97% told us they felt their worker at The Children’s Society listened
to them and included them in discussions
Ԏ91% said they felt the support we gave them helped improve their
situation.
“I like whe we learnt about NATS
(negatve thoughts). Whe I a stree
or thinking f something scary or I a
dancing I ca d breathing exercses like the
one where yo lk aroun the r an try
t fin wors whic begi wit that leer.”
Spotlight: RISE
RISE is a Mental Health Support Team that addresses the mild-to-moderate mental health
needs of children and young people aged 5 to 18 years.
We deliver the service through schools and colleges across Newcastle and Gateshead,
as part of the Newcastle Gateshead NHS and Department for Education Mental Health
in Schools programme. RISE supports with a range of issues, including anxiety, exam
stress, low mood, worry management, self-esteem, emotional literacy and regulation,
and sleep hygiene.
RISE gives schools and colleges access to a dedicated Education Mental Health Practitioner,
who is qualified to oer tailored support in three main ways:
Ԏdelivering evidence-based interventions to students one-to-one and
in group sessions
Ԏsupporting sta to develop a whole school or college approach
Ԏpartnering with other specialist services to help students with more
complex issues get the right support.
In 2024/25:
28,553 children and young people received support through RISE. Of these:
Ԏ28,15128 were reached through events, such as assemblies, classroom activities
and workshops
Ԏ291 were supported through small group work
Ԏ111 were supported through one-to-one sessions. Of these 111 young people:
Ԏ77 completed an outcomes tool, and 83% of these reported an improved
outcome after working with their mental health practitioner from
The Children’s Society.
By taking this layered, whole school/college approach, our RISE service works with as many
children and young people as possible, supporting them to understand, and feel more in
control of, their emotions, and to build better mental health now and for the longer term.
Our impact 2024/25
2120
The Children’s Society
“I like the stre bucket
because just thinking f
realsing strategies that
helps s very calming an
minful. I probably wi
use these strategies i the
future whe I a angry
or I have s muc t d.”
As well as supporting children and young people in schools, we provide
early support through our community-based drop-in hubs. These oer
support for children and young people who need a safe space with
dedicated sta, where they can work through issues and challenges they
are experiencing. Read Anthony’s story to learn about the profound impact
our early support can have for children and young people as they try to
navigate the diculties of growing up in an increasingly complex world.
Anthony’s story
As a 14-year-old, Anthony was struggling in many areas
of his life and was being bullied at school. After some
students ‘outed’ him as gay without his consent, his
self-esteem fell to an all-time low. When a new student
support ocer started at the school, they referred
Anthony to a local mental health and wellbeing drop-in run
by The Children’s Society. For most of Year 10, Anthony
attended weekly, 30-minute sessions with a wellbeing
practitioner. It was an opportunity for him to speak
with someone safe, impartial and open to talking about
whatever he needed to on any given day. Over time, he
noticed that he was starting to feel less anxious and more
able to cope with the challenges he was facing. Anthony
found the support so valuable that now, aged 17 years, he
uses his voice to advocate for other young people, helping
to shape the work of The Children’s Society through one
of our Youth Voice participation groups. This has helped
Anthony feel confident expressing himself. He has learned
skills and had experiences that he feels have helped
shape who he is today.
“I like whe we pae the ba
t eac ther. I coul kp mental
healt more cal an g. Whe
I get angry I ca d my breathing
techniques t cal myself dow.”
Conclusion
Our early support services support children and young people before or
as soon as a concern arises, providing support with emotional health and
wellbeing, and helping to prevent the risks of exploitation and harm. When
we provide support early, we prevent problems getting worse and we set
children and young people up with skills and strengths that they can draw
on throughout their lives.
Our impact 2024/25
23
The Children’s Society
22
“The Children’s Society s wh yo are as perso an
nt just anther object that they have t overcome t get
their job done. The way they lste s big part f it... they
bring things up i sincere way an moul the materials
they have aroun yo, i personalse way. They have
resources wit iformatio t help yo understan
yourself beer an exercses designe t sothe yo ... like
breathing exercses that they woul talk yo throug.
They reay lste an it’s very personalse.”
23
Responding to risk
Overview
Too often, children and young people do not receive the early support they
need. So our services that respond to risk of harm are an essential part
of our provision, oering a crucial safety net in times of diculty. These
services are there for children, young people and their families when things
are really tough.
Figures at a glance
Between April 2024 and March 2025, we ran 37 services responding to risk,
working with 5,627 children and young people. These included:
Ԏ1,469 children and young people reached through events
Ԏ4,158 children and young people supported through one-to-one
and small group work.
We also reached 1,101 parents and carers through our services responding
to risk:
Ԏ745 reached through events
Ԏ356 supported one-to-one or small group work.
The feedback from children and young people who used our services
responding to risk in the year to March 2025 shows the successful impact
these services have had. Of the 564 children and young people who
completed a feedback survey:
Ԏ97% reported that they were happy with the support they received
Ԏ96% told us they felt able to express their thoughts and feelings in
their work with us
Ԏ99% told us they felt their worker at The Children’s Society listened
to them and included them in discussions
Ԏ95% said they felt the support we gave them helped improve
their situation.
Spotlight: our services working with those impacted by domestic violence and abuse
Between April 2024 and March 2025, we ran four services across the country to support
children and young people impacted by domestic violence and abuse: Halton Resolve,
Manchester Resolve, Greater Manchester ASSIST, and Resolve@ working in Torbay,
Shropshire, Rochdale, and Merseyside.
While each of these services has a unique approach, they are united in their aim to ensure the
safety of children and young people who have experienced domestic violence or abuse, and
to help improve their emotional wellbeing and mental health. These services provide a safe,
confidential, child-centred space for children, young people and their families to feel listened
to and understood.
Experienced practitioners work together with children and young people using approaches
such as art or play-based activities, worksheets, talking therapies, and trauma-focused
approaches. They cover topics such as relationships, safety planning, identifying trusted
adults and support networks, recognising feelings and developing coping strategies,
confidence, and self-esteem.
In 2024/25:
879 children and young people were supported throughout our domestic violence and abuse
services. Of these:
Ԏ276 were reached through events.
Ԏ603 were supported through one-to-one support or small group work:
Ԏ432 completed an outcomes tool, 97% of whom reported an improved
outcome. For example, 390 completed The Goal Based Outcomes tool,29 which
provides a way of evaluating progress towards goals in work with children, young
people and their families and carers. Of these 390 children and young people:
Ԏ98% reported progress in understanding dierent behaviours
Ԏ97% reported progress in understanding emotions
Ԏ97% reported progress in safety planning
In addition, of the 879 children and young people supported by our domestic violence and
abuse services across the country, 227 completed feedback surveys. 96% of these reported
that they were satisfied with the support they received.
“It has felt like talking t frien.
It has helpe me cope wit
derent situations an identfy
emtions aroun these.”
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
24 25
“I have enjoye a the
actvities that involve art as
ths made me fl cofortable
i the seions. I enjoye the
self-portrait the most as the
wors we wrte aroun it has
made me fl more cofident
about myself.”
“[Practitioner] has helpe me lt by
lstening t me an helping me wit my
woies. We made pla that I ha t
use whe things gt scary at home. I fl
more cal now an I know what t d
whe it gets scary at home.”
Conor’s story
Conor works as a counsellor at The Children’s
Society, supporting children and young people
who have been aected by domestic violence
and abuse. His day-to-day work takes him out
and about, travelling between schools and
sometimes local children’s centres or libraries,
going wherever he is needed to provide a safe,
non-judgemental space for those he supports.
Conor takes a child-centred approach in his
work, inspired by his favourite writer – the
pioneering psychologist Irvin Yalom30 – to create
a comfortable and trusting environment in his
sessions, always tailoring things for children and
young people as individuals and the age group
they are in. In his work with younger children,
Conor uses sensory games and play therapy,
with older children, he encourages them to lead
with what they want to work on.
The heart of Conor’s work entails supporting
children and young people to understand what
they have experienced and to heal, as well as
modelling a healthy, safe, respectful relationship
in order to increase the chances of breaking
the cycle of abuse. He also encourages young
people to identify goals and work towards them
with his support, and in this, he creates a safe
space to think not only about surviving but
about moving forward in life.
Sometimes the work can weigh heavy.
Conor has learned the importance of looking
after himself; sports, music and a relaxing
environment at home all play a part in
strengthening his own wellbeing, so that he can
really be there for the children and young people
he serves. But the work inspires him, growing
his trust in the capacity of the human spirit
to prevail:
“[The work] has probably improved my
overall inherent trust in people and in
humanity generally, and the admiration
for some of the resilience that people
have as well.”
Conor is proud of what he does – knowing he
has played a part in supporting children and
young people to get better makes all the dicult
bits worthwhile:
“When you’ve been able to play a really
crucial role in someone rebuilding their life
– and you can often see the visual eects,
their demeanour just changes so much –
it’s such a worthwhile thing to be doing.”
How does Conor know that the support he
gives is having an impact? The evidence is there
in the paperwork he completes with children
and young people, as they track their journeys
towards their goals. But he sees it too in the way
a young person carries themselves, in the way
their confidence grows, little by little, over time.
Conclusion
Over the past year, through our services responding to risk, we have supported
thousands of children and young people through particularly challenging
times, and we have seen first-hand the serious challenges many face growing
up in the UK. Some have experienced violence and abuse inside or outside
the home, and others have been exploited, or risk being exploited. Many have
experienced low wellbeing. Yet we have also seen the positive impact that
our support has had on overturning the eects of adverse experiences. This
continues to drive the work we do, not only with individual children and young
people, but also more broadly, to make the systems around them work better.
Our impact 2024/25
27
The Children’s Society
26
2 Our systems change
work and its impact
Overview
Our ‘systems change’ work is all about improving the wider services,
institutions and policies aecting children and young people in the UK so that
these too can positively impact their lives.
We work through our services and programmes to influence the professionals
and systems around children and young people so that they can be more
eective. And, by collaborating internally across our practice, research, and
policy, advocacy and influencing teams, we use our knowledge to influence
national government policy and raise awareness of the challenges that
children and young people face, promoting more eective and sustainable
systems to meet their needs.
Throughout 2024/25, we continued to develop and improve the way we track
and evidence the impact of our systems change work. We are constantly
evolving how we demonstrate impact in this area, and for this reporting year
we provide high level reach figures from our local systems change work
by services, and we report on activities relating to our national political
influencing. In the upcoming year, we will continue to develop our approach
to demonstrating the systemic impact of our activities.
Local systems change, 2024/25
Ԏthrough our services, we worked with 15,856 professionals, for
example in education, health, children’s social care, and policing.
Ԏour services delivered a collective 1,318 events with professionals
to raise awareness of children and young people’s needs and the
issues they face.
National policy influencing, 2024/25
During the reporting period, our policy, advocacy and influencing leads have
been busy establishing and maintaining relationships with professionals and
policymakers through organising and attending policy events, advocating
for children and young people at the highest levels. Here, we spotlight some
examples of our work in this area.
Spotlight: Action Before Crisis
The Children’s Society’s Action Before Crisis campaign began following
the General Election in summer 2024. The campaign was designed to
amplify The Children’s Society’s calls to the new government – seeking
assurances that they are committed to providing support early to
children and young people, and that policies are designed to support
mental health and wellbeing, to better protect children from harm,
and to commit to ending child poverty.
As part of this campaign, 1,371 postcards were sent to 515 dierent MPs
by The Children’s Society supporters, with a reach of 90% of MPs in
England and Wales. By writing to MPs, our supporters conveyed a clear
demand to Government: act to prevent children and young people being
pulled into crisis and provide the resources to build a future in which
children and young people can thrive.
Action Before Crisis followed our joint Children at the Table campaign
bringing together the UK’s five leading children’s charities, with young
people at the centre, to push for renewed consideration of children
and young people in national decision-making. Our Children at the
Table campaign also achieved significant impact in the last year – with
187 organisations part of the movement and 56.4 million views of
#ChildrenAtTheTable across social media platforms as of December
2024, and the main political parties making significant commitments
for children and young people in their manifestos.31 In the autumn of
2024, we invited young people to have their voices heard at our joint
Children at the Table Party Conference reception, with one young
person reflecting:
“Ths was my favourite event that I have b t
representing The Children’s Society because there were
s many important people wh actuay wante t lste,
an they fuy supporte everything we as young people
were saying. It was very empowering t be there an speak;
it has relit my paio t make change i the worl.”
Systems
change
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
28 29
Spotlight: Household Support Fund
The Household Support Fund is a central source of financial support for households
struggling to aord the basic costs of daily living. However, its future is not guaranteed. With
our advocacy work and leadership of the Crisis Support Working Group,32 The Children’s
Society played a pivotal role in helping to secure extensions to this fund so that local
authorities can continue to deliver vital emergency support to families facing financial crisis.
In September 2024, we helped secure an initial extension of the Household Support Fund
until April 2025, which was followed by the announcement in the Autumn Budget of a further
year’s funding, until April 2026. This has given local authorities the financial security to make
funds available to families for this period. Building on our last five years of campaigning
success in this area, during which we coordinated sector eorts to secure £5 billion of
funding, we continue to call for this valuable form of support: for the Government to commit
to long-term funding in the upcoming spending review.
Spotlight: National Wellbeing Measurement
Over the past year, The Children’s Society has amplified our campaign for
a national measurement of children’s wellbeing. Since the establishment
of our Good Childhood Report, we have repeatedly called for the
Government to introduce a national programme to measure children’s
wellbeing, so that local and national policies to improve children’s
wellbeing can be based on robust evidence. After publishing our report
A national roadmap to a good childhood in 2024, which called for this
once again, we jointly set up the coalition Our Wellbeing, Our Voice with
other leaders in this space.
In the last year, through this coalition:
Ԏwe have held events engaging with over 200 professionals and
policymakers on the importance of a national wellbeing measurement
and its potential impact
ԎMark Russell, our CEO, gave evidence to the Children’s Wellbeing
and Schools Bill Committee on the need to introduce a national
children’s wellbeing measurement33
Ԏwe secured a discussion on our proposed amendment to the
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to introduce a national
wellbeing measurement, and gained cross-party support for this.
Towards a better future: Achieving systemic change
is a long-term endeavour. We will continue to pursue our
mission to create lasting, positive change – so that every
child in the UK has the best possible chance to thrive.
Our impact 2024/25
31
The Children’s Society
30
National policy: Mental Health Support Teams
For many years, The Children’s Society has relentlessly
and ambitiously called for increased mental health
support within schools. Throughout every iteration of
The Good Childhood Report, we have highlighted this
need and advocated for the full expansion of Mental
Health Support Teams (MHSTs) across the country.
This has been a core component of our influencing
work within mental health and wellbeing, forming a
basis for discussions with Ministers, Advisers and
MPs from across the political benches and Houses.
3 Bringing things together:
early support for wellbeing
Our direct support is enhanced by our systems change work with
professionals and policy makers. It enables us to deliver greater impact for
and with children and young people by bringing together the rich learning
from our services and programmes with our policy, advocacy and influencing,
and research teams, to shape local practice and national policy. This year
we’re pleased to report on our growing portfolio of early support services
which support wellbeing, as an example of this joined up working.
Systems
change
Building the
evidence
base
Direct
support
Direct support – our open-access, early
support hubs
To ensure we are working alongside children and
young people to provide early support with their
emotional wellbeing and mental health, we have
continued to develop and grow our early support
hubs. Here, we oer one-o sessions and
workshops alongside more structured support
(for example, providing planned sessions to
children and young people for around 8 to 10
weeks for those with more specialist needs).
We also support parents and carers through
these hubs.
Building the evidence base
Underpinning and supporting all of our work around
early support is our flagship research programme
and annual publication, the Good Childhood Report.
This research entails bespoke analysis and includes
other data sets about children’s wellbeing in the
UK. This helps us identify population-level trends
and understand how children and young people feel
about their lives, and to identify particular areas,
or groups of children and young people, that need
further attention or support.
Local systems change
To make sure that children and young
people have the support they need in their
communities, The Children’s Society builds
relationships with other professionals, for
example in other third sector organisations,
the NHS, police, local authorities, and local
community groups and schools.
“[I] felt lstene t an able t share
how I felt without judgement
... made progre i geing help
towars support for ADHD.”
“I a very happy wit today’s
drop-i seio, I felt like I was
hear an directe t something
that wi help me.”
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
32 33
Local systems change
Our work to provide early support for children and young people’s wellbeing
is not confined to our hubs. We also work within local areas to help develop
the support systems surrounding our hubs, so that the experiences and
responses for children and young people can be improved.
Quotes from local systems actors (school sta):
“We have noticed a positive change in the group who have
accessed the service through the group work. Confidence
and resilience have definitely improved.”
“These sessions have been extremely engaging, supportive
and enjoyable for our students and really helped with building
the confidence ... of some vulnerable participants.”
Just as we know that our services operate within local systems, we know
too that these local systems operate within a broader, national political and
policy eco-system in the UK. Therefore, integral to our approach is creating
wider political and systemic change so that we can improve the lives of more
children and young people beyond the reach of our services alone.
National policy: Mental Health Support Teams
In December 2024, 6,123 supporters joined our call, signing a petition for an
accelerated expansion of MHSTs across the country, with this move needing urgent
prioritisation. Just a few months later, in May 2025, the Government announced
plans to increase MHST coverage, investing £49 million across the rollout of the
programme to increase coverage to one million children and young people by
2026 and full coverage by 2029/30. While full rollout and complete coverage is still
to come, this prioritisation and recognition of MHSTs and the support they provide
is testament to the ongoing and continuous influencing across the sector on this,
which The Children’s Society is incredibly proud to be part of.
Direct support – our open-access, early support hubs
Over the past year we have continued to develop and grow our work within our
Time for young people and Pause services. In our Time for young people hubs,
currently in Newham London, Leeds, Torbay, Gateshead, Coventry and Warwickshire,
and throughout our Pause services in Birmingham, this early support is designed to
equip children and young people to understand their feelings, manage worries, stress
and conflict, and access specialist support if they need it.
In 2024/25, we supported 8,037 children and young people across all our
Time for young people and Pause services. Of these:
Ԏ5,296 were reached through events
Ԏ 2,741 were supported through one-to-one support or small group work.
Of these:
Ԏ687 completed a pair of outcomes tool, and 91% of these
reported an improved goal or positive outcome after engaging
with the service.
Building the evidence base
Our Good Childhood research drives much of our national policy work
around early support for wellbeing, including our call for a national
measurement of children’s wellbeing, and the Mental Health Support
Teams in Schools campaign.
Between publication of the Good Childhood Report 2024 in August and
November last year, we disseminated our report and its headline findings
to all 650 MPs, with tailored and personalised letters sent to all Cabinet
members, Ministers and Shadow Cabinet members and party spokespeople.
We achieved over 330 pieces of media coverage across print, online,
broadcast and social media – compared to around 52 pieces in 2023.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
34 35
4 Building a movement
Overview
The work we do is only possible thanks to the vast number of people who
support and engage with us and to all the organisations who share our vision.
This is why, at The Children’s Society, we prioritise building a movement – so
we can continue to grow our impact for children and young people. Through
building this movement, our aspiration is to shift narratives, discourse and
attitudes among the general public, our supporters, and partners about
issues aecting children and young people, and to contribute to increasing
the resources available to support children and young people.
We build our movement in a variety of ways. Generous supporters donate
their time, money, and voice, for example by volunteering in our charity shops,
running and attending fundraising events, and taking part in our campaign
actions. Media outlets, including online, TV, radio, and print, report on the work
we do, raising vital awareness of the issues children and young people face and
helping us reach new potential audiences and supporters.
Building a movement figures at a glance, 2024/25:
ԎTotal supporters: 77,30734
ԎTime: 19,26935
ԎMoney: 50,083
ԎVoice: 9,900
ԎTotal pieces of media coverage: 5,125
Ԏwith total of 19.2 billion potential opportunities to view.36
Notably, 29 pieces of media coverage, with
237.9 million potential opportunities to view, were
generated by our partnership with fast food chain
Chicken Cottage. This launched in February 2025
and aims to create spaces within local communities
to help keep children and young people safe from
exploitation.
Showcasing ...
The London Marathon
A flagship event for us last year, as it is every year, was the London
Marathon. The 2024 team was our biggest one yet, with over 104
supporters joining 50,000 other runners on Sunday 21 April to run the
iconic 26.2 mile course. Last year our Chief Executive Mark Russell also
ran for The Children’s Society, in support of the children and young people
who need it most.
Kennedys Law Firm
In the past year, we continued to collaborate with our corporate partner
Kennedys Law Firm. They supported us in various ways, for example
helping to create and distribute around 60 wellbeing boxes to the
young people we work with in Bedfordshire and Newham. We used their
expertise to provide pro bono advice on issues including enhanced due
diligence and legal help with drafting amendments to parliamentary bills.
Charity shops
Over the last financial year, we expanded our portfolio of 101 charity
shops, with the opening of 2 new outlets in Keswick (Cumbria) and
Herne Bay (Kent). The role our shops play in enabling impact cannot be
underestimated; as well as raising our profile and vital funds, they also
provide aordable clothing and other goods to local communities in an
environmentally sustainable way.
Children Can’t Wait Christmas appeal
Last year, we attracted 3,600 new supporters through our Children
Can’t Wait Christmas appeal. As part of this, we shared Louise’s story, a
young person who grew up in a violent household and who had experience
of child exploitation outside the home. The appeal raised awareness of the
vital need for early support for young people at risk of harm.
Christingle services
For over 50 years, families and communities have joyfully celebrated
The Children’s Society Christingle services in their churches and schools,
and we have deeply valued their support. In 2024, we were delighted that
1,935 Christingle services took place on our behalf across the country.
This was the highest number of services held since 2020, and more than
500 people joined in for their first time since the pandemic.
Buil
movement
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
36 37
Supporter story
Gay Drysdall was on one of our fundraising committees for
35 years and was central to the growth of The Children’s
Society movement in her local community. Sadly, Gay
passed away in December 2024. Yet as one of our most
significant fundraisers, she leaves a long-lasting impact on
both the charity and local supporters. During her time on
the committee, Gay supported a host of events including
garden parties, cake sales, themed autumn fairs, fashion
shows, flower arranging demonstrations, open gardens,
quiz nights, and Christingle services. Her greatest impact
was encouraging over 100 people in the local community
to become Box Coordinators. Our Box Coordinators
are at the heart of building a movement within their
communities, collecting donations and raising awareness
of our work. We are so grateful to Gay and for the legacy
she left, which enables her and our work to continue.
Driving lasting change
We are profoundly encouraged by the strength and
passion of the people who joined our movement over the
past year, raising awareness about children and young
people’s concerns, supporting our political influencing and
generously fundraising and donating money to help us
deliver our essential services and programmes. Everyone
at The Children’s Society is motivated by the commitment
and encouragement of our supporters and partners,
helping to inspire a growing movement united by the
vision of a society where every child can thrive.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
38 39
Section C: Looking
to the future
Our impact going forward
We enter 2025/26 with a refreshed strategy and refined strategic objectives.
As we continue working to reduce the decline in children’s wellbeing and
realise our charitable ambitions for children and young people, we remain
committed to growing our organisation. In order to reduce the number of
young people not getting the right support at the right time, we will maintain
our focus on growing the quality, eectiveness and reach of our direct
service provision.
In the years ahead, we will work to:
grow our impact
grow our income
grow our capabilities.
Our future impact in numbers
Figure 4. Actual and target key performance indicators for 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Achieved
2024/25
Target
2025/26
Our work with young people
Number of young people supported 5 7,6 5 2 65,000
Number of professionals worked with 15,856 17,500
Number of youth voice activities 359 400
Number of active supporters 77,307 77,500
Number of active donors 53,337 53,000
Brand consideration 18% 18%
Explanatory notes:
the number of young people supported refers to the number of young people
who received direct support from our services, through one-to-one support,
small group work, or events like assemblies or contracts.
each year, our target for the number of young people worked with is based
on secured work for the year ahead. This figure will change across the year
as we secure additional services and programmes. It will also be directly
influenced by dierent types of programmes that require more or less time
working directly with young people.
active supporters refers to anyone who has given their time, money,
or voice between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
active donors refers to anyone who donated to us between 1 April 2024
and 31 March 2025.
brand consideration looks at how many of those people who are aware
of an organisation would consider donating to an organisation.
Our impact fund
We have designated a proportion of our reserves as an impact fund to
enable progression towards our 2030 goal. Created in 2021/22, this fund
is designed exclusively to enable us to invest in innovative new propositions
and approaches that we believe have the potential to bring about further
impact for young people or that will plug gaps in existing support.
Two significant investments have been made from the fund. Our first has
led to the development of a pioneering new project: Time for young people,
an open-access support space in Newham, east London. Our second has
been made to match fund the Space to grow national programme.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
40 41
Our new service: Space to grow
In 2024, The Children’s Society were thrilled to be awarded funding from
BBC Children in Need’s A Million and Me Award,37 funding dedicated to
providing early support for children and young people with their wellbeing
and mental health. With this funding, along with matched funds from our
Impact fund, we have set up Space to grow, delivered together with two
partner organisations across all four nations of the United Kingdom. Children
First in Glasgow and Edinburgh, MACS in Belfast, and The Children’s Society
covering England and Wales. We look forward to sharing the impact of this
work in future reports.
Time for young people, Newham
Building on our knowledge and expertise, we have worked extensively
with young people to design and develop a new wellbeing support service.
It aims to flex and adapt to understand and respond to local needs, providing
the right support, in the right place, at the right time. In September 2024,
we launched the first place-based support space based on this design:
Time for young people, Newham.
Young people have been involved in and informed about the development of
Time for young people in Newham. We have worked with a group of young
designers, and together we have considered wider data, research, and learning
around what works. Young people told us what they felt was most important
in creating the space: they wanted it to feel relational, not transactional; be
provided in accessible, safe, inclusive spaces; and be flexible enough to change
with young people and respond to new and emerging local needs.
Time for young people, Newham, gives young people a place where they can
drop in and meet trained sta one-to-one, without needing an appointment
or a referral. They can access group sessions, events, and a range of practical
resources, as well as using the physical support space to relax and feel safe.
Alongside the central support space, we are working with local partners to
oer additional help in other community spaces.
Space to grow oers free support for children aged 8 to 13 years in each
nation, so that they can feel happier, supported, and safer. It is especially
committed to providing early support for those who may not ordinarily be
reached by mental health and wellbeing services, including LGBTQ+38 children,
young carers, and those from the global majority.
Our dedicated and flexible team of Space to grow sta provide support in
a range of ways, tailored to what local communities need and want. From
being at the end of the phone to providing in-person, structured one-to-one
sessions for children who need them, as well as facilitating group work, Space
to grow supports children and young people to understand and manage their
emotions, communicate eectively and build positive relationships with those
around them. From running workshops on topics like resilience, to providing
wellbeing resources and information online or through The Children’s Society’s
digital wellbeing app MeTime, we support children and young people to
flourish. And while we are focused on children aged 8 to 13 years, there is
plenty of information, advice and resources for parents, carers and school sta
so that they can best support all of the children and young people in their care.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
42 43
Space to grow is made possible by our funding
partners: BBC Children in Need, The Health
Foundation, and Impact on Urban Health. Together,
over the next year and beyond, we will develop our
collective capacity to find new, sustainable ways
to make sure every child and young person can
thrive. We are also working closely with a learning
partner to ensure we learn about what is working
well and where to focus our eorts, and so we can
understand and evidence the impact for children
and young people. One of the things we are really
excited about is the Youth Voice element of our
Space to grow programme, which will help us to
ensure that all our work is rooted in what children
and young people think and experience.
Our future growth and major appeal
We have plans to expand place-based support spaces, like Time for young
people, Newham, to other areas of identified need across the country.
This will strengthen our confidence in scaling up our highly valued early
support oer, and allow us to reach more of the young people who need
us most. To help fund this expansion and drive long-term income growth,
we are planning our most ambitious fundraising campaign to date: a multi-
year, multimillion-pound fundraising appeal. As well as increasing income,
this major appeal will strengthen The Children’s Society brand, raise public
awareness of the urgent challenges facing young people’s wellbeing in the
UK, and reinforce a crucial message: that ‘Teenagers are children too’.
Most importantly, it will enable us to deepen our impact working with
and for young people to create lasting change.
United in our mission
Everything we do, and every impact we achieve, is only possible through
collaboration. This spirit of partnership runs through every part of The
Children’s Society; from our teams working with other professionals in local
communities, to participation groups empowering children and young people,
to those raising awareness among the general public and those working with
policy makers and political decision makers to drive national change. It also
includes the thousands of supporters who stand with us, championing our
work across the country. Together, as one UK-wide team, we are united in our
mission to overturn the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing, setting a
path for long lasting growth.
Delivered by Delivered by
Supported by Supported by
Delivered by
SUPPORTED BY
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
44 45
Section D:
Financial review
In the financial year ending 31 March 2025, The Children’s Society experienced
an 11% increase in income and 8% increase in expenditure overall. Total
income was £40.6 million (2024: £36.5 million) and total expenditure £44.3
million (2024: £40.9 million). This led to an operating loss of £3.6 million
(2024: £4.4 million loss). This operating loss was supported by the gains in
investments, leading to an overall loss of £0.9 million (2024: £2.2 million).
The organisation has strong reserves and was able to absorb this loss,
resulting in general funds of £16.8 million at the end of March 2025.
1 Income
The Children’s Society has continued
to benefit from the generosity
of individuals, businesses, and
charitable bodies. Details of the
amounts received in grants are shown
in note 24 to the accounts; corporate
sponsors of The Children’s Society
are listed on page 110.
Legacy income increased this year
by 60%, to £6.8 million (2024: £4.3
million). The increase of £2.5 million
(2024: £6.5 million decrease) was
a result of having a strong year in
2025 and a below average year in
2024. His Majesty’s Courts and
Tribunals Service (HMCTS, who
help to notify organisations about
legacies they may be entitled to)
made great progress dealing with
the backlog of probate applications
which led to the increase in legacy
income materialising in 2025. These
donations are acts of generosity
from supporters. We acknowledge
the potential for legacy income to
fluctuate but remain confident that
it will continue to be a solid source of
income. Our legacy donors are also
listed in our ‘thank you’ list on pages
111-112.
Retail sales generated £11.6 million
in the past year, and exceeded
£12 million for the second time
when we include the related gift aid
attributed to retail sales. This is a
£0.1 million decrease from the
previous year (2024: £11.7 million).
Retail sales are impacted by weather
conditions and economic conditions,
which have contributed to this small
decrease. The income came directly
from retail activities, the bulk of which
comes from a full year of trading in
the retail shops, ecommerce and
brought in goods. Our retail shops
can only be open with the help of
committed volunteers who are led by
our retail shop managers. Together
they provide a local link in over 100
high streets across England and
Wales. The number of The Children’s
Society retail shops was 101 shops
(2024: 102).
This year, our income from our unique
Christingle events generated £0.8
million (2024: £0.8 million) while our
dedicated house box groups gave us
£0.7 million (2024: £0.9 million) from
their collections. Other donations,
which include gift aid, remained
consistent with last year at £6.5 million
(2024: £6.5 million). While donations
have reduced in recent years, our
supporter base remains committed
and strong in continuing to support
The Children’s Society into the future.
Income from charitable activities
increased from last year to £14.02
million (2024: £12.01 million). This
income is used to continue to deliver
critical support to young people using
a variety of approaches, including
digital resources alongside using
youth voice to help advocate and
push for changes in governmental
and societal systems. Contract
funding is provided by national and
local Government, police and crime
commissioners and the NHS. Our
grant income has continued to benefit
from the long-standing relationship
with the National Lottery Community
Fund as we reached our final year of
funding for our national programme
to disrupt child criminal exploitation.
2 Expenditure
Our biggest item of expenditure is
sta costs and they increased by
7.5% year on year, to £28.91 million
(2024: £26.84 million). This increase
of £2.01 million was a combination
of an increased headcount alongside
an increase in stang costs due to
an annual increment in sta salaries
in line with our pay policy and the
organisation’s commitment to paying
the real living wage. More details can
be seen in note 10 in the accounts.
We continue to invest in our supporter
engagement and community
fundraising, and the direct costs of
fundraising slightly decreased by
£0.07 million to £5.2 million (2024:
£5.3 million). This expenditure allows
us to attract new supporters and
provide new innovative fundraising
solutions to our existing supporter
base. The direct cost of the retail
network increased to £11.23 million
(2024: £10.64 million) which was
mostly due to inflationary increases
in costs required to run the retail
operations. Retail was able to
produce a £0.4 million contribution
towards the organisation’s activities
before allocating support costs
and excluding gift aid donations,
representing a 3.4% gross margin
(2024: £1.1 million, 10% gross
margin).
The direct cost of providing support
to young people increased from last
year by £2.6 million to £15.2 million
(2024: £12.6 million). Direct costs of
changing governmental and societal
systems reduced by £0.36 million to
£3.7 million (2024: £4.1 million).
Support and governance costs
are higher than the previous year,
standing at £8.8 million (2024:
£8.4 million). The activities with the
largest increase were information
systems, financial processing
and management.
3 Fixed assets
In the 2024/25 financial year the
organisation continued to develop its
Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) system, continued with its
sta laptop replacement programme
and implemented a new budgeting
tool, which is now used for budget
planning, forecasting and reporting.
The organisation also continued to
invest in retail by commencing an LED
lighting programme to replace our
lighting across our shops, and also
fitted out two new shops.
4 Investments
At 31 March 2025, The Children’s
Society held £38.3 million of
investments (2024: £41.4 million)
comprising general, designated and
endowment funds invested in a well-
diversified range of short to long-term
investments. This also includes a
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
46 47
modest investment in
land and buildings (£165 thousand).
The investment strategy is to mitigate
risk by diversifying the portfolio
across a number of investment
managers who themselves are
investing in a diverse range of assets,
a significant proportion of which are
intentionally inversely correlated in
their risk profile. This year saw less
in investment gains compared with
the previous year’s gains. We also
sold more shares compared to the
previous year to support our cashflow.
The year ended with investment
gains of £1.4 million (2024:
£3.8 million gain).
5 Cash and working capital
We continue to manage our working
capital eectively, ensuring that we
pay suppliers within the terms agreed
and collecting debts on a timely basis.
The Children’s Society’s funded work
is paid for mainly by local and national
Government organisations and
therefore represents a low credit risk.
Our operational activities increased
the use of cash with a negative
generation of £5.2 million (2024: £2.5
million negative generation). During
the year, debtors showed a small
increase while creditors showed a
decrease compared to the previous
year. We continue to hold some
highly liquid investments should our
cashflow patterns change suddenly.
6 Reserves
Unrestricted funds
The trustees consider that the
organisation’s unrestricted general
reserves are appropriate for the
challenging external environment
and for our aspirations to grow
significantly. At 31 March 2025, the
group’s general funds were £16.8
million, which equates to around four
and a half months of total operational
expenditure.
While our maximum target is six
months’ total operational expenditure,
trustees are of the view that allocating
some of the unrestricted reserves
for investment to enable more
impact and a growth in income,
organisational capability and longer
term financial sustainability, is
acceptable. The use of some of the
reserves will support the investment
needed, cover the planned budget
deficit for the current year, and, most
importantly, provide resilience and
continuity of services to children
and young people in the face of any
unexpected shocks.
Trustees have considered and stress-
tested a series of scenarios focused
on the following risks:
Ԏannual variability in unrestricted
income (excluding legacies)
Ԏlegacy income fluctuations
Ԏinflationary impacts
Ԏstructural deficits and reshaping
our cost base to short- and
medium-term income expectations
Ԏadjusting strategy while
experiencing income decline
Ԏmaintaining sucient working
capital headroom
Ԏreputational damage
Ԏcontributions towards the defined
Benefit Pension Scheme funding
liability in future years
These stress tests confirm that
our unrestricted general funds
at 31 March 2025 sit between the
minimum and mid point of our
target range.
Designated funds
The Children’s Society holds three
designated funds - the Fixed Asset
fund, the Impact fund and the Slack
fund. The Slack fund was added
this year from unlocking part of
one of our permanent endowments
after seeking permission from the
Charity Commission.
Total Designated Funds have
increased to £13.3 million
(2024: £12.8 million).
The Fixed Asset fund reflects the
current net book value of the tangible
and intangible fixed assets. These
assets are to be used to help the
organisation achieve its mission
and 2030 goal.
The Impact fund was created to
enhance our strategic ambition
by funding innovative pilots and
projects for which traditional forms
of funding are unavailable. In the
financial year ending 31 March 2025,
the Impact fund had two projects
running which incurred expenditure
of £705 thousand and benefited from
investment gains of £0.3 million.
The balance of the Impact fund
at the end of the year was £8.2 million
(2024: £8.6 million).
The Slack fund unlocked £900
thousand from one of the endowment
funds to help advance children and
young people in their education
or training (including by way of
apprenticeship schemes).
Pension reserve
The pension reserve reflects the
long-term liability of The Children’s
Society to meet the deficit in its final
salary pension schemes, calculated
in accordance with FRS 102, and does
not take account of a surplus on any
scheme. As permitted by the Charity
SORP, this commitment is shown as
a separate, negative reserve, equal
in value to the net pension deficit of
£22 thousand for one of our Defined
Benefit Pension Schemes. The other
scheme was in a surplus position
which is not recognised in
the accounts.
Restricted funds
Restricted funds represent the
unspent amounts arising from
donations and grants where the
activity funded is more specific
than the general purposes of
The Children’s Society. At 31 March
2025, the value of these funds was
£1.6 million (2024: £1.5 million).
Endowment funds
Endowment funds represent the value
of assets donated to The Children’s
Society from which the income may
be spent while the underlying capital
is maintained. The funds are invested
in a portfolio investment whose value
at 31 March 2025 was £13.3 million
(2024: £13.8 million). As part of our
financial strategy, we are unlocking
funds from the endowment portfolio
with the Charity Commission’s
approval, to enable them to be used
to enhance our impact with and for
young people.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
48 49
Section E:
Governance and
management
1 Governance compliance and information
More information on engagement
with sta and volunteers can be found
on page 60 to 62, and on engagement
with other stakeholders on page 64.
Our trustees have a wide range of
skills, knowledge, and experience,
essential to good governance.
We keep the balance of expertise
under review, including during the
recruitment process. Collectively, the
board must demonstrate responsible
leadership and judgement. We
have three trustees with extensive
experience and knowledge in relation
to the safeguarding of children and
vulnerable adults.
We expect our trustees, committee
members, chief executive, and
executive leadership team to
behave with the utmost integrity
and professionalism, consistently
demonstrating their commitment
to the goals and values of The
Children’s Society. All our trustees
give their time voluntarily and
receive no rewards or benefits
from The Children’s Society.
The board met both physically and
virtually during the year, including six
formal meetings and several ad hoc
meetings to keep trustees informed.
They are also expected to complete
regular training on matters like
safeguarding, data protection, and
cyber security. Trustees who served
during the year are listed on pages
108-109, together with information
about their membership of
committees and meeting attendance.
1.4 Delegation
and committees
The board maintains a written
schedule of matters reserved for the
board of trustees and committees,
which clearly defines specific areas
for delegation. The terms of reference
for each committee are reviewed
annually and they report back to the
board on a regular basis.
The Finance and Investment
Committee is responsible for
the charity’s financial strategy
and performance, making sure
its resources are properly and
appropriately applied to its key
objectives. It oversees the charity’s
investments, managing them so
that they underpin the charity’s
strategic objectives. The committee
is responsible for safeguarding the
charity’s assets and making sure we
have sucient reserves.
The Organisational Development
Committee is responsible for
overseeing all matters concerned with
eective governance of The Children’s
Society. The committee supports
the chief executive in building and
sustaining a successful leadership
team and guides and monitors the
eectiveness of people policies.
The Risk, Audit, and Compliance
Committee is responsible for
giving the board assurances on the
eectiveness of the internal controls,
the adequacy of our risk management
processes, and the internal control
environment. It also receives external
audit annual reporting. It considers
any significant issues that arise and
monitors and reviews safeguarding
and health and safety.
This includes the implementation of
and compliance with policies. The
committee also oversees all systems,
controls, and processes, making sure
that we’re able to meet our objectives.
1.1 Legal status
and objectives
The Church of England Children’s
Society (The Children’s Society)
is a company limited by guarantee
and a charity registered in England
and Wales. Our organisation was
established in 1881 and incorporated
in 1893. It is governed by its articles
of association, which set out our
principal objectives – to care for and
support children and young people
in need across the country, whether
material, physical, mental, emotional,
spiritual, or otherwise.
1.2 Public benefit
The trustees have a duty to report
on how our organisation’s charitable
objective has been carried out for
the public benefit and to follow
the guidance from the Charity
Commission on the provision of
public benefit requirement under
the Charities Act 2011. This duty is
fulfilled by the content of this report.
1.3 The board of trustees
The board is responsible for the
governance and strategic direction
of the organisation, making sure the
charity upholds its ethos and values
and delivers its objectives.
The trustees delegate operational
management to the executive
leadership team, which is accountable
to the board for its stewardship of
the charity. The chief executive and
executive leadership team attend
board and committee meetings.
We appoint trustees through a
transparent and rigorous recruitment
and selection process. Young
trustees participate in this, and their
assessments are an integral part of
the decision making process. Hearing
and engaging with young people’s
voices is at the heart of
our governance.
This year, we recruited four new
trustees and two new independent
committee members to sit on one
of our board committees. We also
appointed a new interim Chair of the
Board and a new Company Secretary.
We provide a comprehensive
induction programme and ongoing
training covering the requirements of
the trustees under the charities act
and more specifically to the charity
and its work for all trustees. For
new trustees this includes meeting
the executive. leadership team,
completing mandatory training
(including on safeguarding),
engaging with sta and volunteers,
and visiting young people’s services
and our shops.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
50 51
1.5 Section 172 (1)
Statement
All charitable companies have a
responsibility to act in accordance
with Section 172 of the UK Companies
Act 2006 (‘the duty to promote the
success of a company’).
The board of trustees confirms that
during the year under review, they
have acted in the way that they
consider, in good faith, has complied
with their duties in Section 172 of the
Companies Act 2006 by promoting
The Children’s Society’s success to
achieve its charitable purpose.
The board of trustees considers the
matters set out in Section 172(1)
(a) to (f) of the 2006 Act in all its
discussions and decision-making,
which includes:
The likely long-term
consequences of decisions.
Over the past year, trustees have
taken key decisions to support
the achievement of our charitable
objectives and to help achieve our
ambitious goal to overturn the
damaging decline in children’s
wellbeing by 2030.
For example, the budget for 2025/26
was prepared not only for the
financial year ahead, but with the
aim to achieve a solid platform for
sustainable growth. The core budget
will serve as a foundation for the
necessary growth in impact, income
and organisational capability, with
the overall ambition of working to
reduce the declining state of children
and young people’s wellbeing across
England and Wales.
The interests of our employees,
our business relationships, and
acting fairly.
Trustees have regard to the interests
of our employees and volunteers
and the need to foster business
relationships with key stakeholders:
young people, beneficiaries, funders,
and the wider community. During the
year, we kept our employees up to
date with regular updates provided
by the CEO and executive leadership
team via written communications
as well as at the monthly ‘TCS Live’
meetings,39 which trustees also
attend and present at.
Further information can be found on
pages 60 to 62.
Our impact on the community
and the environment
Trustees and the executive leadership
team are committed to conducting
the charity in a responsible,
sustainable way to protect both
people and planet. Further
information can be found on pages
66 to 68.
The desirability to maintain a
reputation for high standards
of business conduct.
Trustees acknowledge their
responsibility for setting and
monitoring the values, strategy,
vision, and reputation of the charity.
Further information can be found in
the looking to the future section on
pages 40 to 44.
1.6 Young trustees
Our young trustees are young people
from across the country who have
previously engaged with our direct
services, either through one-to-one
support, group work, or participation
groups. Although they do not hold
the legal status formally assigned to
other trustees, they otherwise have
equal status on the board in terms
of discussions and decisions.
As well as attending board meetings,
young trustees also support
the organisation in other ways,
depending on their interests, and
make a significant contribution
to The Children’s Society’s work.
The young trustees meet regularly
as a group. To prepare for board
meetings, they invite members of
the Executive and Senior Leadership
Teams to have discussions with them.
This year, their involvement included
contributing to organisational
developments like our values and
behaviours, the refresh of our
strategy, and how we measure
and demonstrate impact.
The young trustees continue to be
involved in recruitment for key senior
leadership and operational roles.
The young trustees also visited the
records and archives department and
created a short video about their role
and influence for internal sta.
Our young trustees have continually
been involved in amplifying their
messages through blogs, podcasts,
and public consultations like the
advocacy standards consultation.
Their voices are central to what we do,
and they influence work across the
organisation at all levels.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
52 53
2.1 Modern slavery
Modern slavery is a significant global
human rights issue. It includes
human tracking, sexual exploitation,
forced and bonded labour, domestic
servitude, and child labour. We are
committed to acting ethically and with
integrity in all our relationships by
taking every reasonable opportunity
to act within our direct operations
and wider sphere of influence to
make sure that slavery and human
tracking does not take place in the
charity’s operations. Modern slavery
can be hard to spot and is often
hidden in plain sight.
We recognise that there are risks of
modern slavery in our supply chains
for all types of goods and services.
This risk is low due to our relatively
small-scale supply chains and the
controls and systems we have in
place. However, a risk does remain,
and the policies and procedures
outlined below help us mitigate this.
We are satisfied that we are compliant
with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
We work to tackle exploitation,
abuse, and tracking faced by
young people. In this work, we
know we will encounter situations
of modern slavery. Our policies and
procedures, including procurement,
whistleblowing, and recruitment,
are critical in delivering a robust,
safe, and ethical response. In
line with the Modern Slavery Act
2015, we published our modern
slavery statement for this financial
year (childrenssociety.org.uk/
organisational-policies). This
includes examples of modern slavery
that we encounter in the work that
we do.
2.2 Safeguarding children,
young people, and
vulnerable adults
The board of trustees is accountable
for ensuring structures, processes,
and resources for good practice
in safeguarding are in place with
the Risk, Audit, and Compliance
Committee (RACC), maintaining
oversight of safeguarding issues on
behalf of the board. Two safeguarding
trustees sit on RACC and provide
subject expert advice and guidance
to RACC, the Corporate Strategic
Safeguarding Group, the board, and
the Senior Leadership Team. Annually,
the board receives a safeguarding
report that provides assurance of
the dierent activity, compliance,
and data that together formulate our
safeguarding approach.
The safeguarding approach at The
Children’s Society is led by the Chief
Executive Ocer and the Executive
Director of Youth Impact, working
closely with the Safeguarding and
Quality Practice team. All sta and
volunteers are aware of and required
to meet role requirements in relation
to safeguarding, through inclusion
in role profiles, mandatory training,
and the application of organisation-
wide safeguarding policies and
procedures. Safeguarding permeates
our culture at The Children’s Society
and a myriad of activity, that is
complexly related, ensures eective
safeguarding management and
governance.
2.3 Our people
Our people and teams continue to
provide exceptional contribution to
the achievement of our strategic
aims and our operational delivery.
In 2024/25, an organisational
change process impacted across
the organisation. However, we have
continued to see furtherance in
the achievement of our human-
centred approach to employees
and volunteers through our People
Experience Framework and living
and breathing our values.
2024/25 – Our people in numbers
Ԏwe advertised 266 vacancies
this year, hiring 300 new team
members. 261 people left the
organisation.
Ԏ460 new volunteers joined The
Children’s Society in 2024/25.
Ԏoverall, the number of active
volunteers remained consistent
with 2023/24.
Ԏover 2,200 retail volunteers
supported in our shops and
with our ecommerce oer.
Ԏover 100 speakers and
ambassadors across the country
engaged their local communities,
helping others to understand the
challenges facing young people
and how we can help.
Ԏ15 volunteers supported our
Young Carers Festival in June 2024.
2.3.1 Getting basics right
Restructure – overview
An organisation-wide restructuring
exercise.
The goals of the restructure were to:
Ԏreduce core budget operating
spend to protect reserves for
growth investment
Ԏachieve a solid and stable
organisation to deliver our
strategy and be in the best
shape for growth.
Wide-reaching formal consultations
took place, including with Unite
the Union.
A continued focus on the experience
of our people was at the forefront
of managing changes. Many
organisation-wide engagement
activities were undertaken, reaching
an employee audience of 145 to 199
attendees.
For those impacted by the changes,
as well as consultation, special
support workshops and resources
were made available.
Where possible, savings were
achieved through the removal
of already vacant posts, thereby
minimising the impact on people.
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The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
54 55
2024
62%59%49%42%
202320222021
The outcomes in relation to our
people included:
Ԏ9 voluntary redundancies
Ԏ3 compulsory redundancies
Ԏ28 redeployments/changed roles
Ԏ12 resignations from posts in scope
of the reviews.
30 posts (net) were removed from
our organisational establishment.
Our total annualised saving was
£1,361,397.
Remuneration
Over the last three years, a
comprehensive organisation-
wide review of all pay structures,
responding to the demanding
economic landscape we find
ourselves in post-pandemic and the
challenges this poses for all charitable
organisations, has been a focus.
This has also been to ensure the
foundations are set that enable The
Children’s Society to remain future fit
for the modern workplace alongside
maintaining strong elements for
recruitment and retention of key
skills, capabilities and talent.
Key principles of this review have
been to ensure that any new
processes, structures and policies
introduced uphold the Living Wage
Foundation’s principles and hold
fairness and equity at their core. Our
governance structure, with trustees’
oversight of the pay, pensions, and
benefits of the chief executive and
executive leadership team remains.
Work on this programme was initially
paused in early 2024/25 due to
the internal reorganisation. The
final months of 2024/25 saw this
programme of work implemented
with a wholesale change to our pay
model and approach, including job
levels. As a result, a new pay structure
went live in April 2025, along with
the issuing of new contracts of
employment to all colleagues, an
introduction of a new expense policy
(and associated ways of working),
and harmonisation of working hours
for colleagues in our Youth Impact
domain within this same timeframe.
The annual pay review was
successfully negotiated with Unite the
Union and implemented in April 2025.
In line with sector benchmarking, it
has ensured that all employees were
brought up to the minimum of the
new pay bands or received a one-o
payment paid in two instalments
this year.
Executive pay has been aligned
within the new structure, ensuring
consistency across all levels in the
organisation. This was an important
step in ensuring equal and fair
application of pay and will be a
continued focus for us in 2025.
Throughout 2025/26, we will
be focusing on implementing a
capability framework, a new tool
to ensure recognition for individual
development connected with pay in
2026, as well as looking at our job
architecture and wider reward and
benefits strategy.
CEO salary
Our Chief Executive’s salary was
£137,802 (at 31 March 2025). The
ratio of our highest to our median
salary (including retail) was 4.6:1.
Pay gap reporting
2024 marked our eighth report
on our gender pay gap and our
fourth for our diversity pay gap.
Our findings showed that:
Ԏthe median gender pay gap
was 4% (decreased by 10.5%
since last year).
Ԏthe mean was 12.8%
(decreased by 0.4%)
Ԏour diversity pay gap analysis
showed that pay advantages were
sustained for ethnicity, disability,
and sexual identity, with a mixed
result for our age analysis.
For further detail and analysis on
our pay gap reporting, refer to our
report on our website.
childrenssociety.org.uk/
sites/default/files/2024-10/
Gender%20Pay%20Gap%20
Report_2024.pdf
Culture and inclusion
The restructures through 2024,
with the evolution of Diversity and
Talent into the People, Culture
and Transformation team has
seen a further integration and
embedding of Equity, Diversity
and Inclusion (EDI) into the DNA
of The Children’s Society.
TIDE 2024
2024 marked our fourth year of
undertaking the Talent Inclusion
and Diversity Evaluation (TIDE) as
part of our membership of Employer
Network of Equality and Inclusion
(ENEI). This self-assessment,
evaluation, and benchmarking
framework designed to help
organisations assess and enhance
their culture, focuses on progress and
strategies in fostering and building an
inclusive culture for
the organisation.
We achieved a TIDE overall score
of 62%, which reflected a 3%
improvement when compared to
2023 (59%). Our score indicates that
we continue to operate at the Embed
level. When also benchmarked against
other organisations, our contributions
enabled us to retain our bronze TIDE
ribbon for our work to become a more
inclusive organisation.
Since we started evaluating our
Equality, Diveristy, and Inclusion (EDI)
performance and capabilities with the
TIDE framework, we have seen steady
improvement year-on-year in our EDI
performance and capabilities. We aim
to build on this further still.
Figure 5. The Children’s Society
TIDE results 2021 to 2024.
Annual TIDE score
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
56 57
Inclusive engagement
and recognition
We continue to oer opportunities
for colleagues to connect through
a series of events that aim to
inspire and spark meaningful
conversations, showcase our work
and the impact that it has and to
hear the stories of our team of
people and what they bring to The
Children’s Society. Over the last year,
events for notable EDI dates and
celebrations have been particularly
impactful and consistently attended
by approximately 10% of the
organisation:
Ԏ‘TCS Talks’: A conversation with ...
colleagues celebrating South
Asian heritage month (74)
ԎOpening Listening Space: The
Children’s Society reflection space
after the August race riots (87)
Ԏ#ImpactMatters conversation for
National Inclusion Week (63)
ԎInternational Women’s Day event:
A conversation with... women in
tech, digital and data roles at
The Children’s Society (70)
Dedication to EDI education
Alongside our engagement and
recognition moments, 2024 also saw
The Children’s Society’s continued
commitment to their EDI education.
While some of this was mandatory
(such as our sexual harassment
training, in line with the changes
in statutory legislation), we also
continued to see appetite for our
employees and managers to further
their understanding and development
in this space, for example through:
Ԏmanaging diversity: 60 attendees
Ԏmoving toward conscious
inclusion: 68 attendees
Strategic workforce planning
Throughout 2024/25 a fully strategic
approach to workforce planning was
introduced and embedded as part of
the budgeting and strategy process.
Major workforce groups have been
identified and agreed, with choices
on investment and resources
weighted against our strategic
objectives. Through the Strategic
Workforce Plan, we are committed to:
Ԏsupport organisational capacity
and growth, inclusive of ensuring
that we embed EDI into our
ways of working and improve the
representation of the communities
that we work with
Ԏinvest in brand, marketing
and income generation
Ԏimplement flexible working
and deployment
Ԏleverage our volunteer community
to our cause and strategy
Ԏtransform digital capability
and systems
Ԏinvest in our critical workforce
groups and leadership.
The strategic workforce plan and
approach is overseen through
the lens of our People Experience
Framework that ensures we embed
equity, diversity and inclusion into all
that we do.
This joint approach will ensure that
when choosing where to commit the
limited resources we have, we have
a framework that has, at its heart,
the goal of realising our vision, goal
and strategy.
2.3.2 Having a voice
Peer Community Groups
People and Experience Forum
2024/25 continued to create
meaningful and strategically aligned
forums through the introduction
of the People Experience Forum.
This is an all-employee representative
body which represents through
structure and geography the
demographic communities of
The Children’s Society.
Key highlights over the year included
improving the intranet, development
of a performance management
policy, introduction of a capability
framework, review of our approach
to anti-racist practice, and further
informing our understanding of how
change management is experienced
and can be improved upon at
The Children’s Society.
Number of representatives
over the year: 14
Number of meetings: 7
Quote from a Forum rep:
‘Being involved in something
positive with your colleagues
to better the culture in our
organisation is really freshening.
The PEX Forum is a really safe
space for us to openly have tough
conversations and be able to
create a good place for people
to work in.’
Volunteer voice forum and insight
This year, our volunteer voices forum
provided valuable insight on our
approach to communications that
will support the capture of diversity
data for our volunteer base. This will
be invaluable in moving us forward in
2025/26.
LGBTQ+ pulse survey
Following our organisation-
wide survey in 2023/24, we also
conducted a LGBTQ+ pulse survey
for volunteers, in order to understand
more about the dierences between
the experiences of volunteers who are
part of this community and those who
are not.
People
Experience
FORUM
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
58 59
2.3.3 Feeling valued
Learning and development -
full analysis of portfolio
As an ambitious organisation,
continued professional learning and
development is important and key
to our values, whether you are a new
starter or an existing sta member or
volunteer. This year, we have seen:
Ԏ150 courses live on Learning Zone
(our e-learning platform)
Ԏa curated course library on
Learning Zone
Ԏ essential learning – 22
Ԏskills and capabilities – 24
Ԏdiversity and inclusion – 6
Ԏ personal growth – 13
Ԏ724 unique Learning Zone users
accessed Learning Zone
Ԏ2,024 delegates confirmed
across all training oered through
Cascade (our HR system),
booking e-learning and workshop-
based learning. This equates to
an average of 1.8 courses per
employee, accounting for sta
turnover during the period
Ԏ41 unique training courses provided
over multiple sessions
Ԏ35 (13%) of our people managers
completed the Compass
management development
programme within the last
financial year
Ԏa further 23 (8%) people
managers were onboarded
onto apprenticeships across
4 standards:
Ԏ operations manager, Level: 5
(Growing Leaders Programme)
Ԏsenior leader, Level: 7
Ԏyouth support worker, Level: 3
Ԏpeople professional, Level: 5
Ԏ23 apprentices graduated from
their programme
Ԏ58 learners invited to celebrate
their Structure Programme
Graduation during National
Apprenticeship Week 2025.
Engagement and recognition
We continue to see consistent
engagement across our portfolio of
communications, recognition and
wellbeing channels that we use to
inform, engage, celebrate and support
our people. Over the last year, we have
seen a steady build in engagement
with our all-organisation reaching
channels:
Ԏ‘TCS Live’ - our monthly
all-organisation webinar
(average attendance of 198
people – almost 20% of the
organisation)
Ԏweekly newsletter – circa 30%
of the organisation
ԎYou Star (our Employee Reward
and Recognition Platform)
Ԏ151 average logins a month
Ԏour real-time recognition
through e-cards has continued in
popularity, shared across our You
Star platform and Viva Engage
‘Recognition Wall’. Over the course
of the year, we have:
Ԏ refreshed our recognition
e-cards in line with our values
and behaviours refresh
Ԏ introduced a PRIDE recognition
e-card, which accounted for
32% of e-card use in June
Ԏ introduced an Employee
Appreciation Day e-card, which
accounted for 33% of cards
sent in March, compared to 6%
the previous year.
Ԏour EDI recognition and celebration
events have proved popular for our
people to hear, learn and celebrate
the diverse experiences of our
team at The Children’s Society
Ԏadditionally, our Coee Roulette
initiative, which matches
colleagues for casual virtual coee
chats, has been well received over
the course of the year. It continues
to successfully connect colleagues
from dierent parts of
The Children’s Society.
For the next year, our focus is
to continue to drive and sustain
engagement through our channels
and platforms and to evolve and
integrate our approach so that our
people have a more streamlined
and accessible experience that fits
with their needs.
Volunteers’ week
2024 saw great engagement and
recognition for our volunteers in
Volunteers’ Week in June, recognising
the history and contribution of
volunteering at The Children’s Society
and providing an opportunity to
spotlight the valuable contributions
that volunteers make to all that we do.
In terms of the events’ engagement
and success, we saw a 58%
open rate across our two internal
communications to volunteers
(up 2% on 2023) and over 7,000
engagements and over 23,000
impressions across our social media
engagement on Facebook, LinkedIn,
X and Instagram. This represents an
increase in activity by 50% on 2023
events, providing a platform we are
keen to build on for Volunteers’
Week 2025.
2.3.4 Inspiring leadership
Talent development
We remain committed to growing
our internal leadership talent. During
2024, 47 employees undertook
development programmes across our
management development portfolio:
Ԏleadership apprenticeships
Ԏ operations manager, Level: 5
(Growing Leaders Programme)
Ԏ senior leader, Level: 7
Ԏ35 learners completed the
Compass management
development programme.
The end of 2024/25 also saw the
creation of a Leadership Development
programme for our Senior Leadership
team, which will commence in May
2025.
Strategic communications
and engagement
This year, we have concentrated
on enhancing our approach to
communication and engagement
to support the next phase of our
strategy, leading up to 2030. Our
new approach focuses on several
key areas:
Ԏenhanced communications model:
Ԏ we introduced a new
communications model to
strategically assess and allocate
resources and expertise,
ensuring alignment with the
organisation’s priorities.
Ԏintegrated strategic messaging:
Ԏwe work to ensure that
our overarching strategy
is embedded across all
campaigns and channels,
highlighting the stories of
our work and its impact.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
60 61
Ԏsupporting the voice of leadership:
Ԏprovide multiple channels
and ways for our executive
leadership team to engage with
our people.
Ԏrotate the chairing of our
monthly all-sta townhall
events, ‘TCS Live’, which
features stories and voices
from across the organisation,
including volunteers, young
people, and trustees.
Ԏmonthly blog from our wider
leadership team member to
share insights, updates, and
personal reflections connected
with our strategic delivery and
goal.
Ԏvoices of our people:
Ԏwe focus on showcasing
the voices of our sta and
volunteers, emphasising their
contributions and experiences
in all that we do at The
Children’s Society.
Ԏin the final half of 2024/25,
five recognition events from
the EDI calendar were informed
by ideas from our employees,
two of which were employee
led (International Women’s Day
and Neurodiversity Celebration
Week), providing evidence of
a more open and confident
culture where our people feel
able to share their true selves
at work.
Ԏempowering our people managers:
Ԏwe have evolved our project/
manager briefing approach
to provide managers with
everything they need through
dedicated intranet hubs.
Ԏwe have strengthened our
monthly Talking Points
(management newsletter)
and scheduled online topic-
focused events.
ԎTalking Points: saw an average
read of 192 (circa 60% of our
management population).
Overall, this approach has enabled
our leadership team to equip
themselves with the key messages
and resources to share with their
teams, so that we can ensure our
people and teams feel engaged,
motivated and inspired to deliver
our strategy and goal.
3 Wider governance
3.1 Youth voice
Youth voice describes the dierent
ways we at The Children’s Society
listen to and act on the views and
experiences of young people.
This ensures that young people’s
voices inform all aspects of our
work. Embedding innovative and
meaningful youth engagement and
participation leads to more positive
impacts for young people, and youth
voice is central to our plans for
change in the coming years. Young
people know best what they need,
and by listening to and learning from
them, we can build the future they
deserve together.
Our youth voice charter underpins
this work. It lays out how we enable,
equip, and support young people to
have influence in the journey towards
our 2030 goal. We centre young
people’s wishes and feelings in our
services, so that they know from
the first contact that they are heard,
valued, and have choices and options.
And we provide opportunities for
young people to express themselves
and be heard, through storytelling,
group experiences, participation
groups, consultations, surveys,
and more.
In our work with young people,
we use the following principles of
engagement to make sure that they
are fully supported throughout.
ԎProtection: We never introduce
unnecessary risks to young
people’s safety and wellbeing,
seeking to ensure that they are
protected from harm, can remain
anonymous, and are properly
safeguarded.
ԎProvision: We make sure that
young people can participate
without cost to them or their
families and that their engagement
provides a tangible benefit for
them.
ԎProfessionalism: We show
our respect for young people,
prioritising honesty and
transparency. We are confident
and competent, sharing power
with young people.
ԎRecognition: We acknowledge
and celebrate young people’s
contributions, sharing information
and feedback with them on the
impact they have made. This
includes accreditation and awards
where relevant.
ԎChoice and influence: We make
sure that young people are making
an informed decision to participate,
with a clear understanding of the
influence of their contribution. We
oer a range of opportunities for
participation and engagement.
ԎBelonging and sharing: We seek
to enable young people to share
their experiences with one another
and develop skills and knowledge
that enhance their wellbeing.
ԎInclusive: We make sure that
opportunities are extended to
all young people, regardless
of personal circumstances,
background, or perceived
competence and ability.
ԎMutual benefit: There must be
a tangible benefit to the adults
involved for the engagement
activity to have meaning and
credibility. This should be made
known to the young people from
the beginning.
The Children’s Society
62
Our impact 2024/25
63
3.2 Supporter engagement
and fundraising
The last year has been challenging
for all of us, and we are so grateful to
our supporters for their continued
generosity and commitment despite
these circumstances. They allow us to
be here for young people and to work
for change, and every contribution
they make has real impact.
Our voluntary income comes from a
wide range of sources. Individuals give
regular or one-o cash contributions.
Groups raise funds by taking part in
challenge events locally, online, and
abroad. Some people donate to and
buy from our shops, while others
make gifts in their wills. We also
partner with professional funders,
commissioners, companies, trusts,
and foundations.
These are just a few examples of
the amazing support we receive
from people across the UK. Every
interaction we have with our
supporters is guided by our supporter
promise to:
Ԏkeep our supporters up to date
in ways that work for them
Ԏalways treat people respectfully
and sensitively
Ԏmeet or exceed fundraising
and data protection standards.
We comply with the voluntary
Fundraising Regulator regulation
scheme and align our fundraising
policies and practices with the
fundraising code of conduct. We
also follow all related legislation
and marketing regulations. Most
of our fundraising activity is led by
employees and volunteers, though
we have also worked with partner
agencies to deliver fundraising
appeals and other projects.
We monitor any fundraising
undertaken on our behalf, and our
external partners must comply with
the Fundraising Regulator’s regulation
scheme and our supporter promise.
Oering a positive experience for
everyone who fundraises for us,
works with us, or supports us is
of paramount importance. Our
approach, policies, and standards
aim to protect vulnerable people
and other members of the public
from inappropriate behaviour. We
continuously learn from what we do,
always with an eye to improvement.
In 2024/25, we logged 226
complaints across Social Impact,
Youth Impact and Retail, an increase
of 84% on the previous year.
The increase was caused by our
decision to return the Archbishop
of Canterbury’s Christmas 2024
donation, which accounted for
126 complaints. Without these,
total complaints for the year would
have shown another year-on-year
decrease, from 122 in 2023/24 to
105 in 2024/25, continuing the trend
of recent years.
We require 90% of complaints to be
resolved within 10 working days. In
2024/25, 220 complaints (97%) were
resolved within this timeframe and
six complaints fell outside, meaning
we met our target for the year. Those
falling outside tended to be those that
were more complex, often involving
several communications between our
organisation and the complainant.
We resolved all but one complaint at
Stage one of our complaints process,
meaning that the sta member or
team in receipt of the complaint
managed it. One complaint went to
Stage two, where the complaint and
its response were reviewed by an
independent, senior member of sta.
We received no complaints this year
via the Fundraising Regulator.
74% of complaints received were
upheld, a 9% decrease on the
previous year. Most upheld complaints
related to an error from the charity,
such as administrative or mailing
errors, or where a member of sta
or volunteer didn’t meet our required
standards of supporter experience
and care.
We are thankful to everyone who
chose to stand alongside children
and young people this year and will
continue to commit to delivering the
best possible supporter experience.
3.3 Principal risks
and uncertainties
The trustees are responsible for
ensuring that the charity maintains
comprehensive risk management
systems and that appropriate actions
are taken to manage and mitigate
risks. The Risk, Audit, and Compliance
Committee monitors and reviews
these risk management arrangements
and reports to the board of trustees
on their ongoing eectiveness.
Our formal risk management
strategy provides a robust framework
for developing the corporate risk
register and managing risk across
the charity. The Children’s Society
has an established system of internal
controls governing all its operations.
These are designed to provide
a reasonable level of assurance
against the risk of error, fraud, and
inappropriate or ineective use of
organisational resources. Matters that
have potential to cause reputational
risk are kept under close review,
management, and mitigation.
The outsourced internal audit function
reviews the corporate risk register
to make sure audits are correctly
focused. They evaluate the adequacy
and eectiveness of our checks and
controls and report to our trustees
via the Risk, Audit, and Compliance
Committee.
We pay particular attention to
mitigating safeguarding risks:
protecting children and young people
is central to all we do. This and other
principal risks identified within the
corporate risk register are as below.
1. The Children’s Society is unable
to suciently grow income from
its new strategic approach to
address the decline in historic
fundraising activities.
Examples of risk management
actions include:
Ԏincome modelling and pipeline
approach
Ԏrobust safeguarding and quality
practice approach
Ԏdeveloping income programme
plans
Ԏconfirming new team structures
and initiating a recruitment plan.
2. We are too ambitious in
seeking growth and overextend
operationally, aecting our
capacity to deliver and leading
to burnout.
Examples of risk management
actions include:
Ԏclear resource allocation
and prioritisation against
the strategic plan
Ԏcontinuing the sta survey,
pulse survey, and regular
check-ins with sta.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
64 65
3. Extended operation of our
existing pay structure and
policy impacts our ability
to attract and retain talent.
Examples of risk management
actions include:
Ԏregular reporting and clearer
oversight on application of
pay policy
Ԏexceptional pay business
cases considered.
4. Challenges with organisational
resilience and stability,
particularly as we respond to an
ever-changing landscape both
strategically and operationally,
impact our ability to attract
and retain talent, skills, and
capability.
Examples of risk management
actions include:
Ԏcontinuing to embed the people
experience framework, which is
our people strategy
Ԏusing management information
and data to drive insight and
manage risk eectively
Ԏdeveloping capability and
development needs for the
leadership team
Ԏstrategic workforce planning for
The Children’s Society
Ԏreviewing the total reward package.
5. The external labour market
and an inability to eectively
recruit impacts restricted and
unrestricted income funding
drawdown and increases
operational and reputational
risk.
Examples of risk management
actions include:
Ԏupdating our employee value
proposition and careers site to
promote The Children’s Society
as a great place to work.
3.4 Protecting
the environment
The Children’s Society recognises
the importance of environmental
issues to young people and to our
planet. We take our role in reducing
carbon impacts seriously, and are
committed to conducting ourselves
in a responsible, sustainable way
that protects both people and planet.
With the full support of trustees and
management, we are on a journey to
reduce our environmental impact and
maintain high operational standards
across all our activities.
Our operational activities
With some exceptions, all our retail
stock is donated by customers
and companies. With turnover this
year of £12.4 million (including gift
aid contributions), we can say that
just under one third of our income
comes from environmentally friendly
operations, in that is generated
from the sale of donations that are
reused, recycled or upcycled. We
do all that we can to minimise any
unsold donations going to landfill.
For example, we rotate unsold stock
between shops and into sale shops,
thereby always seeking to sell all
that’s donated to us.
Inevitably, some of the donations
we receive cannot be sold through
any of our shops and in that
circumstance, we work with a small
number of recycling merchants
who buy unsold stock from us. All
our recycling merchants are TRUST
(Trader Recycling Universal Standard)
accredited, meaning they are audited
to ensure legal compliance and that
robust minimum standards are
adhered to. Working with our recycling
merchants has diverted 922 tonnes of
unsold stock from landfill.
Our retail operations are run with
the intention of reducing its carbon
footprint. Actions include:
Ԏintroducing bags for life made
from sugar beet, selling 117,000
last year alone
Ԏswitching all shops to energy
ecient light bulbs, reducing
CO2 emissions by around 70%
Ԏchanging our plastic price gun
attachers to be 100% recycled
Ԏrecycling or purchasing second
hand shop fittings as we open
new stores
Ԏtrialling a change from plastic
to hessian sacks, used to move
and store stock in our shops.
Ԏstarting to roll-out carbon
conversion reporting for customers
making purchases and companies
donating stock to us.
In addition to our retail initiatives,
we have:
Ԏpromoted the awareness and
facilitation of a renewable energy
contract for the organisation as
a whole
Ԏcontinued to oer a bike loan
scheme
Ԏcontinued to recycle ink and
toner cartridges
Ԏcontinued to encourage less
travel and prioritise online
meetings where appropriate
Ԏmigrated our car fleet from those
with internal combustion engines
to a mix of battery electric, plug-
in hybrid, or self-charging hybrid
vehicles, thereby reducing CO2
emissions by around 80%
Ԏworked with our IT partner,
Coforge, to minimise energy
usage and to collect and recycle
redundant IT equipment
Ԏposted regularly on our employee
communication platform,
Viva Engage, about local initiatives
and ideas
Ԏmonitored and promoted the
dedicated SharePoint site on
environmental topics.
Carbon and energy reporting
The year ending 31 March 2025 is
our fifth year of renewable energy
for both gas and electricity.
This covers 98% of our estate,
with the energy provider in a smaller
number of our properties being
chosen by the landlord. We recognise
that this does not reduce our energy
usage per se. Our usage of energy
across our property portfolio is
as follows:
2023/24
Electricity (kWh): 1,551,406
Gas (kWh): 159,594
Equivalent CO2e (tonnes): 321.29
2024/25
Electricity (kWh): 1,272,009 kWh
Gas (kWh): 138,080 kWh
Equivalent CO2e (tonnes): 263.40
We use public transport where
possible, but for some activities
colleagues use either a fleet car
(of which there are 15) or their
own vehicle. In 2024/25 our combined
mileage came to 717,657 (2023/24 –
424,689). This equates to 199.3 tonnes
of CO2 or 821,013.43 kWh using the
unknown fuel conversion factor.
When contracts for the fleet vehicles
expired, we changed them to electric
or hybrid vehicles. Over the term of
the four-year leases, the move to
electric vehicles will cut CO2 from
116 tonnes to 17 tonnes, representing
reduction of 85% against the
equivalent petrol car. Over 12 months,
the move to electric vehicles cut CO2
emissions from 29 tonnes to 4.25
tonnes, representing reduction of
85% against the equivalent petrol car.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
66 67
In addition, as part of the migration
to electric vehicles, our Retail teams
work with Mina, who provide a simple
EV charging solution, meaning carbon
emissions and intensity per driver,
when using home and public charge
networks, can be monitored. This
means a change in driver behaviour
can also be encouraged, thereby
promoting the use of renewable
energy wherever possible.
Battery range and operating costs
on commercial vehicles are not at the
stage of advancement we’re seeing
with cars, but it’s envisaged that
retail will be able to start migrating
to electric commercial vehicles in
the next two to three years.
Looking to the future, we will
develop our net zero plan further.
This will include:
Ԏmaking sure that all our activities
comply with or exceed regulatory
requirements or codes of practice
where available
Ԏmonitoring our carbon dioxide
emissions and acting to reduce
them where possible
Ԏcontinuing to comply with the
Energy Saving Opportunities
Scheme (ESOS)
Ԏengaging with our employees,
young people, and our volunteers
to manage our environmental
impact and encourage them to
complement our activities with
their own eorts
Ԏmonitoring and improving our
performance in relation to the
waste hierarchy, continuing to
recycle waste wherever possible,
provide bins for all items, and
encourage local recycling initiatives
Ԏreducing energy and water
consumption where possible
by using LED lighting, energy
ecient lighting systems, and
responsibly sourced furniture
and oce equipment
Ԏselecting an energy supplier
with renewable energy
accreditation as our nominated
supplier where possible
Ԏencouraging employees to use
alternative transport methods
by providing season ticket and
bike loans
Ԏcontinuing to adopt an agile
workspace environment to
facilitate virtual meetings, giving
options not to travel at all or to
reduce travel, with associated
cost eciencies and an impact
on our carbon footprint
Ԏreviewing our property portfolio
requirements to allow us to
maximise working from home
opportunities
Ԏmonitoring our investments and
those of the pension funds in line
with environmental, social, and
governance principles.
3.5 General data
protection regulation
We remain fully committed to
protecting our stakeholders’ data and
to following the requirements of the
Data Protection Act. Since the general
data protection regulation became
eective, we have continued to focus
on information governance and are
committed to further strengthening
our position in this area wherever
appropriate. We can also confirm that
there are no significant data breaches
or concerns within the year.
Section F: Statement
of responsibilities
Statement of trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the trustees’
impact summary, annual report, and financial statements
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ impact summary,
annual report, and financial statements in accordance with applicable law
and regulations. Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial
statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare
the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and
applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including
Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS 102), the financial reporting standard
applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Under company law, the trustees must not approve the financial statements
unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of
aairs of the charitable company and of the excess of income over expenditure
for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are
required to:
Ԏselect suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Ԏmake judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
Ԏstate whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed,
subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the
financial statements
Ԏprepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless
it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue
its activities.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that
are sucient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions
and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position
of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial
statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general
responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to
safeguard the assets of the charitable company and to prevent and detect
fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the
corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s
website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination
of financial statements may dier from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Bishop Libby Lane
Chair of Trustees
24 July 2025
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
68 69
Section G:
Independent
auditors’ report
Opinion
We have audited the financial
statements of The Church of England
Children’s Society for the year ended
31 March 2025, which comprise the
group statement of financial activities,
the group and parent balance sheets,
the group cash flow statements, and
notes to the financial statements,
including a summary of significant
accounting policies. The financial
reporting framework applied in their
preparation is applicable law and UK
accounting standards, including FRS
102, the Financial Reporting Standard
applicable in the UK and Republic
of Ireland, issued by the Financial
Reporting Council (FRC).
In our opinion, the financial
statements:
Ԏgive a true and fair view of the state
of the group’s and of the parent
charitable company’s aairs as at
31 March 2025 and of the group’s
and parent charitable company’s
net movement in funds, including
the income and expenditure, for
the year then ended
Ԏhave been properly prepared
in accordance with United
Kingdom Generally Accepted
Accounting Practice
Ԏhave been prepared in accordance
with the requirements of the
Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in
accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK) and
applicable law. Our responsibilities
under those standards are
further described in the auditor’s
responsibilities for the audit of the
financial statements section of our
report. We are independent of the
group in accordance with the ethical
requirements that are relevant to our
audit of the financial statements in
the UK, including the FRC’s ethical
standard, and we have fulfilled our
other ethical responsibilities in
accordance with these requirements.
We believe that the audit evidence
we have obtained is sucient and
appropriate to provide a basis for
our opinion.
Conclusions relating
to going concern
In auditing the financial statements,
we have concluded that the trustees’
use of the going concern basis
of accounting in the preparation
of the financial statements is
appropriate. Based on the work
we have performed, we have not
identified any material uncertainties
relating to events or conditions
that, individually or collectively,
may cast significant doubt on the
group or the parent charitable
company’s ability to continue as
a going concern for a period of at
least 12 months from when the
financial statements are authorised
for issue. Our responsibilities and
the responsibilities of the trustees
with respect to going concern are
described in the relevant sections
of this report.
Other information
The trustees are responsible
for the other information. The
other information comprises the
information included in this report
and the chair’s introduction. Our
opinion on the financial statements
does not cover the other information
and, except to the extent otherwise
explicitly stated in our report, we do
not express any form of assurance
conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of
the financial statements, our
responsibility is to read the other
information and, in doing so, consider
whether the other information
is materially inconsistent with
the financial statements or our
knowledge obtained in the audit or
otherwise appears to be materially
misstated. If we identify such
material inconsistencies or apparent
material misstatements, we are
required to determine whether
there is a material misstatement
in the financial statements or a
material misstatement of the other
information. If, based on the work we
have performed, we conclude that
there is a material misstatement
of this other information, we are
required to report the fact. We have
nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters
prescribed by the Companies
Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work
undertaken in the course of the audit:
Ԏthe information given in this report
(which includes the strategic report
and the directors’ report prepared
for the purposes of company law)
for the financial year for which the
financial statements are prepared
is consistent with the financial
statements
Ԏthe strategic report and the
directors’ report included have
been prepared in accordance with
applicable legal requirements.
Matters on which we are required
to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and
understanding of the group and the
parent charitable company and its
environment obtained in the course
of the audit, we have not identified
material misstatements in this
annual report (which incorporates
the strategic report and the directors’
report).
We have nothing to report in respect
of the following matters in relation
to which the Companies Act 2006
requires us to report to you if, in our
opinion:
Ԏadequate accounting records
have not been kept by the parent
charitable company
Ԏthe parent charitable company
financial statements are not in
agreement with the accounting
records and returns
Ԏcertain disclosures of trustees’
remuneration specified by law
are not made
Ԏwe have not received all the
information and explanations
we require for our audit
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
70 71
Ԏthe trustees were not entitled to
prepare the financial statements
in accordance with the small
companies’ regime and take
advantage of the small companies’
exemptions in preparing the
trustees’ report and from the
requirement to prepare a
strategic report.
Responsibilities of trustees
for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the
trustees’ statement of responsibilities,
set out on page 69, the trustees
(who are also the directors of the
charitable company for the purposes
of company law), are responsible
for the preparation of the financial
statements and for being satisfied
that they give a true and fair view,
and for such internal control as the
trustees determine is necessary to
enable the preparation of financial
statements that are free from
material misstatement, whether
due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements,
the trustees are responsible for
assessing the group’s and the
parent charitable company’s ability
to continue as a going concern,
disclosing, as applicable, matters
related to going concern and using
the going concern basis of accounting
unless the trustees either intend to
liquidate the group or the parent
charitable company or to cease
operations, or have no realistic
alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the
audit of the financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements as a whole
are free from material misstatement,
whether due to fraud or error, and
to issue an auditor’s report that
includes our opinion. Reasonable
assurance is a high level of assurance,
but is not a guarantee that an audit
conducted in accordance with
International Standards on Auditing
(UK) will always detect a material
misstatement where it exists.
Misstatements can arise from fraud
or error and are considered material
if, individually or in the aggregate,
they could reasonably be expected
to influence the economic decisions
of users taken on the basis of these
financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are
instances of non-compliance with
laws and regulations.
We design procedures in line with
our responsibilities, outlined above,
to detect material misstatements
in respect of irregularities, including
fraud. The extent to which our
procedures are capable of detecting
irregularities, including fraud,
is detailed below.
Based on our understanding of the
group and the environment in which
it operates, we identified that the
principal risks of non-compliance
with laws and regulations related
to the regulatory requirements of
the Charity Commission, and we
considered the extent to which non-
compliance might have a material
eect on the financial statements.
We also considered those laws and
regulations that have a direct impact
on the preparation of the financial
statements, such as the Companies
Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, and
the Statement of Recommended
Practice for Charities (SORP).
We evaluated management’s
incentives and opportunities for
fraudulent manipulation of the
financial statements (including
the risk of override controls) and
determined the principal risks
were related to potential posting
of inappropriate journal entries
and management bias in certain
areas of management estimates.
Audit procedures performed by the
engagement team included:
Ԏinspecting correspondence with
regulators and tax authorities
Ԏdiscussions with management,
including consideration of known
or suspected instances of non-
compliance with laws, regulation,
and fraud
Ԏevaluating management’s
controls designed to prevent
and detect irregularities
Ԏreview of minutes of meetings
to identify expected material
amounts of voluntary income
Ԏidentifying and testing journals,
using data analytics to focus
testing on higher risk entries
Ԏchallenging assumptions and
judgements made by management
in their critical account estimates.
Because of the inherent limitations
of an audit, there is a risk that we
will not detect all irregularities,
including those leading to a material
misstatement in the financial
statements or non-compliance with
regulation. This risk increases the
more that compliance with a law
or regulation is removed from the
events and transactions reflected in
the financial statements, as we will
be less likely to become aware of
instances of non-compliance. The risk
is also greater regarding irregularities
occurring due to fraud rather than
error, as fraud involves intentional
concealment, forgery, collusion,
omission or misrepresentation.
A further description of our
responsibilities for the audit
of the financial statements is
located on the Financial Reporting
Council’s website at frc.org.uk/
auditorsresponsibilities. This
description forms part of our
auditor’s report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the
charitable company’s members,
as a body, in accordance with chapter
three of part 16 of the Companies
Act 2006. Our audit work has been
undertaken so that we might state to
the charitable company’s members
those matters we are required to state
to them in an auditor’s report and for
no other purpose. To the fullest extent
permitted by law, we do not accept or
assume responsibility to anyone other
than the charitable company and the
charitable company’s members,
as a body, for our audit work, for
this report, or for the opinions we
have formed.
Adam Halsey
(Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of
HaysMac LLP
Statutory Auditor
10 Queen Street Place
London EC4R 1AG
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
72 73
Section H: Financial
statements
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
74 75
The Church of England Children's Society
Consolidated statement of financial activities
Year ended 31 March 2025
Unrest-
ricted
funds
Rest-
ricted
funds
Endow-
ment
funds
Total
funds
Unrest-
ricted
funds
Rest-
ricted
funds
Endow-
ment
funds
Total
funds
2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Note £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies 2 14,944 - - 14,944 12,577 -
- 12,577
Charitable activities 3 13,004 1,016 - 14,019 10,736 1,345 - 12,081
Trading income 4 11,626 - - 11,626 11,772 -
- 11,772
Investments 5 38 - - 38 17 - 6 23
Other income 6 15 - - 15 22 -
- 22
Total income and endowments 39,627 1,016 - 40,642 35,124 1,345 6 36,475
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 7 19,233 - - 19,233 19,060 -
- 19,060
Charitable activities
8
24,212
833
-
25,045
20,661
1,175
-
21,836
Total expenditure 43,445 833 - 44,278 39,721 1,175 - 40,896
Finance costs 11 - - - - (14) - - (14)
Net gains on investments 14 992 - 445 1,437 2,469 - 1,363 3,832
Net income (2,826) 183 445 (2,198) (2,114) 170 1,369 (575)
Other recognised gains / (losses):
Actuarial gains/ (losses) on
defined benefit pension schemes 11 1,297 - - 1,297 (1,624) - - (1,624)
Transfers between funds
20
964
(64)
(900)
-
122
-
(122)
-
Net movement in funds (565) 119 (455) (901) (3,616) 170 1,247 (2,199)
Reconciliation of funds
Funds brought forward 30,685 1,500 13,780 45,965 34,301 1,330 12,533 48,164
Net movement in funds (565) 119 (455) (901) (3,616) 170 1,247 (2,199)
Summary of total income and expenditure
Total income 40,619 1,016 445 42,080 37,593 1,345 1,369 40,307
Total expenditure (42,148) (833) -
(42,981) (41,331) (1,175) - (42,506)
Net income (1,529) 183 445 (901) (3,738) 170 1,369 (2,199)
All amounts relate to the continuing activities of the group. The reference to the notes, which form part of these financial statements,
is shown on each line as appropriate. The notes are shown on pages 78 to 107. The group has taken advantage of the exemption under
s408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not prepared a separate Statement of Financial Activities for the charity. The net income for
Charity Projects in the year was £164,000 (2024: net expenditure of £4,070,745)
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
76 77
The Church of England Children's Society
Group and Society cash flow statements
Year ended 31 March 2025
Group Society
2025 2024 2025 2024
Note £000 £000 £000 £000
Net cash used by operating activities A (4,886) (2,498) (4,635) (1,735)
Cash flows from investment activities
Investment income received
38 23 38 23
Purchase of investments
(2,015) (13) (2,015) (13)
Proceeds from the sale of investments
6,543 2,000 6,543 2,000
Purchase of tangible & intangible fixed assets
(816) (200) (816) (200)
Net cash provided by investment activities 3,750 1,810 3,750 1,810
Increase / (decrease) in cash
(1,137) (688) (885) 75
Cash at the start of the period
1,936 2,623 1,395 1,320
Cash at the end of the period 800 1,936 510 1,395
Notes to the cash flow statements
A Reconciliation of net income to cash used
by operating activities
Net income as reported in the statement of financial activities
(2,198) (575) (1,461) (1,232)
Adjustments for:
Net investment income receivable
(38) (23) (38) (23)
Net interest cost on defined benefit pension liability
- - - -
Depreciation & amortisation charges
927 901 927 901
Impairment charges and other adjustments
366 1,878 908 957
Gains on investments and assets
(2,734) (3,832) (2,734) (3,832)
(Increase) in debtors
(98) (1,132) (1,126) (528)
(Decrease)/ increase in creditors
(839) 253 (839) 342
Intercompany creditor
- - - 1,648
Increase / (decrease) in provisions for liabilities
58 358 58 358
Net cash provided by operations before pension contributions (4,556) (2,172) (4,305) (1,409)
Pension contributions
(330) (326) (330) (326)
Net cash used by operating activities (4,886) (2,498) (4,635) (1,735)
The Church of England Children's Society
Company registration number 40004
Group and Society balance sheets
as at 31 March 2025
Group Society
2025 2024 2025 2024
Note £000 £000 £000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets
12
1,602
1,994
1,602
1,994
Tangible fixed assets 13 2,630 2,245 2,630 2,245
Investments 14 38,299 41,369 38,299 41,369
Total fixed assets
42,531
45,609
42,531
45,609
Current assets
Debtors 15 9,270 8,036 7,699 6,904
Cash
800 1,936 509 1,395
Total current assets
10,070 9,972 8,208 8,299
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year 16 (6,863) (7,702) (4,895) (7,449)
Net current assets
3,207 2,270 3,313 850
Provisions for liabilities 17 (652) (594) (652) (594)
Net assets excluding pension deficit
45,086 47,285 45,192 45,865
Pension deficit 11 (22) (1,319) (22) (1,319)
Net assets
45,064
45,965
45,170
44,545
Unrestricted funds
General funds 20 16,777 19,169 16,883 17,750
Designated funds 20 13,365 12,835 13,365 12,835
Pension reserve 20 (22) (1,319) (22) (1,319)
Total unrestricted funds
30,120 30,685 30,226 29,266
Restricted funds 20 1,619 1,500 1,619 1,500
Endowment funds 20 13,325 13,780 13,325 13,780
Total funds 45,064 45,965 45,170 44,545
The financial statements were approved and authorised by the Board of Trustees on 24 July 2025 and signed on their behalf by
David Ramsden
Honorary Treasurer
The Church of England Children's Society
Company registration number 40004
Group and Society balance sheets
as at 31 March 2025
Group
Society
2025
2024
2025
2024
Note
£000
£000
£000
£000
Fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets
12
1,602
1,994
1,602
1,994
Tangible fixed assets
13
2,630
2,245
2,630
2,245
Investments
14
38,299
41,369
38,299
41,369
Total fixed assets
42,531
45,609
42,531
45,609
Current assets
Debtors
15
9,270
8,036
7,699
6,904
Cash
800
1,936
509
1,395
Total current assets
10,070
9,972
8,208
8,299
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year
16
(6,863)
(7,702)
(4,895)
(7,449)
Net current assets
3,207
2,270
3,313
850
Provisions for liabilities
17
(652)
(594)
(652)
(594)
Net assets excluding pension deficit
45,086
47,285
45,192
45,865
Pension deficit
11
(22)
(1,319)
(22)
(1,319)
Net assets
45,064
45,965
45,170
44,545
Unrestricted funds
General funds
20
16,777
19,169
16,883
17,750
Designated funds
20
13,365
12,835
13,365
12,835
Pension reserve
20
(22)
(1,319)
(22)
(1,319)
Total unrestricted funds
30,120
30,685
30,226
29,266
Restricted funds
20
1,619
1,500
1,619
1,500
Endowment funds
20
13,325
13,780
13,325
13,780
Total funds
45,064
45,965
45,170
44,545
The financial statements were approved and authorised by the Board of Trustees on 24 July 2025 and signed on their behalf by
David Ramsden
Honorary Treasurer
Section I: Notes to the
financial statements
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
78 79
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
in the preparation of these financial statements are as set out below. These policies have been
consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.
a. General information
The Society is registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee with
registration number 40004. It is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission with
registration number 221124.
The registered oce of the Society is:
Whitecross Studios
50 Banner Street
London
EC1Y 8ST
b. Statement of compliance
These consolidated and separate financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis,
under the historical cost convention, as modified by the recognition of certain assets measured at
fair value.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by
Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial
statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities (SORP
2015) (Second Edition, eective 1 January 2019) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable
in the UK and Republic of Ireland (‘FRS 102’). The Society is a public-benefit entity as defined by
FRS 102.
They also conform to the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. No
separate Statement of Financial Activities (‘SOFA’) has been presented for the Charity alone as
permitted by the Charities SORP. The charity has taken advantage of the exemption in S408 of the
Companies Act 2006 not to publish a charity only Income and Expenditure Account.
c. Basis of consolidation
The results of each of the Society’s subsidiary undertakings listed in note 21 have been
consolidated into these financial statements, on a line-by-line basis. Uniform group accounting
policies have been applied and transactions and balances between the undertakings are
eliminated on consolidation.
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
d. Going concern
The accounting policies of The Children’s Society include the preparation of the accounts on the
assumption that the Society will be a going concern for the 12 month period from the date of
signing of the accounts.
e. Subsidiaries and joint ventures
Entities related to the Society are treated as subsidiaries when the Society is able to control the
entity. Subsidiaries that have been part of the group in the year are shown in note 22.
f. Income from donations, grants and legacies
Income from donations, grants and legacies is recognised when the Society is entitled to the
income, when receipt is probable and the amount can be reliably estimated.
Gift Aid receivable is recognised at the same time as the related donations.
When donations are received other than in money, for instance as a donation of property or
investments, the donation is recorded at the fair value of the items donated at the date of
donation, with the relevant asset recorded at the same initial value.
If there is a requirement to repay a grant received as a result of not meeting the conditions of the
grant, a liability is recognised for the repayment and recorded as a reduction in income in the
period.
g. Income from contracts
Income from contracts for the delivery of services is recognised on a straight-line basis over the
period of time that the contract covers. Where the contract has a set value of expenditure to be
met as well as covering a period of time, cumulative income is recognised in proportion to the
cumulative value of expenditure. The amount of income recognised in a given reporting period is
calculated as the dierence between the cumulative income at the beginning and the end of the
reporting period.
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
h. Donated goods
Valuation of donated goods for resale at the time of receipt is not practicable, due to the high
volume of low value items received and the absence of detailed stock control systems. Instead, the
value of the donated items is recognised as income when they are sold and their value is thus
determined.
i. Gifts in kind
The Society receives goods and services that are provided free of charge. When these replace
expenditure that the Society would have made if not provided free of charge and the value can be
measured reliably, the value of the goods or services received is recognised as donated income at
the value that the Society would have paid a third-party supplier. The expenditure or asset arising
is recognised at the same value in the appropriate section of the financial statements.
j. Volunteers
The Society benefits from volunteer support in its retail network, fundraising groups, working with
children and young people, and in administration. If volunteers were not available, their roles would
not be provided by salaried sta as it would be financially impractical. There is no ready market
comparator for the roles they undertake and it is not possible to reliably measure the financial
value of our volunteers.
The financial value of the donated services and the related contributed activity are, therefore, not
recognised in the financial statements.
k. Accounting for expenditure
Costs are recognised when the Society has an obligation, whether contractual, legal or
constructive, to transfer funds to another person or entity. Costs are recorded at the total of the
amount due plus any unrecoverable VAT associated with the cost.
Costs are recorded according to the type of expenditure incurred and the charitable, income
generation or support purpose to which they are put. Support and governance costs are allocated
to the activities of the Society using the following bases:
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
80 81
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
Cost group Allocation basis
HR and organisational development Headcount
Property services Number of properties managed
Information systems Number of users serviced
Financial processing and management Headcount
Senior management Headcount
Governance Headcount
l. Leases
The cost of the minimum payments under an operating lease is recognised evenly over the non-
cancellable period of the lease. To meet this policy, break points are assumed to be taken when
calculating lease costs.
m. Employee benefits
Short-term employee benefits
Short-term employee benefits, typically salaries, paid holiday and contributions to money-
purchase pension schemes, are recorded as the employees earn entitlement to the benefits
through their service.
Long-term employee benefits
Single employer defined benefit pension schemes
Scheme assets are measured at market value. Scheme liabilities are measured using the
projected unit credit method and discounted at the current rate of high-quality corporate bonds
with an equivalent term and the same currency as the liabilities.
Current service costs are recognised as the scheme members earn entitlement to benefits. Past
service costs are recognised immediately in expenditure if the benefits have vested. The
administration charges of the scheme are also included in expenditure as they fall due.
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
An interest cost arising from the unwinding of the discount on the scheme liabilities and an
expected return from assets using the same discount rate are recognised in income and
expenditure as a net income or cost.
Changes in the valuation of the scheme liabilities and assets caused by changing assumptions in
the valuation of the liabilities and dierence between expected and actual return on assets are
recorded as actuarial gains and losses in the SOFA under ‘Other recognised gains and losses’.
For prudence, net gains are not recognised in the financial statements.
Multi-employer defined benefit pension schemes
Where the scheme is in deficit and where the company has agreed to a deficit funding
arrangement, the company recognises a liability for this obligation. The amount recognised is the
net present value of the deficit reduction contributions payable under the agreement that relates
to the deficit. The present value is calculated using the discount rate which is the equivalent single
discount rates which, when used to discount the future recovery plan contributions due, would
give the same results as using a full AA corporate bond yield curve to discount the same recovery
plan contributions. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as a finance cost.
n. Taxation
The Society is a registered charity and, as such, is exempt from taxation of its income provided the
income is applied for charitable purposes. Both subsidiary entities are subject to Corporation Tax.
Taxable profits earned by the subsidiaries are distributed under the Gift Aid scheme to the Society
so that taxable profits are eliminated, to the extent that the profits are available for distribution.
o. Accounting for funds
Monies received and expended are recorded as part of unrestricted general funds unless they
meet the criteria to be recorded in one of the funds described below.
Income received that is required (whether by the donor, by written agreement or by the request
made by the Society) to be used more narrowly than for the general purposes of the Society is
recorded in a restricted fund. These funds are identified and held separately from the other funds
of the Society.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
82 83
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
The Trustees may also set aside monies into a fund designated for a specific purpose. A fund of
this kind remains part of the unrestricted funds of the Society, but not available for use for general
purposes.
Expenditure to meet the purposes of a fund is recorded against the fund. The remaining balances
of funds are carried forward for future use. Endowment funds are those held on trust where the
capital must be held permanently and the income generated from the capacity can be used in line
with the original purpose of the fund. The Charities SORP permits and The Children’s Society uses
a negative fund to represent the value of the pension deficit as separate from other funds.
p. Intangible fixed assets
Intangible assets are capitalised where the useful life is longer than one year.
Where an intangible asset is software it is included at purchase cost or at total cost of
development, recognising the use of internal resources. Software is amortised, using the straight-
line method and allowing for a residual value. The period of amortisation is 6 years with a residual
value of 5%. The residual value takes account of technological advances which impact on the
value or life cycle of the software.
The assets are reviewed annually to assess whether the carrying value is impaired. The carrying
value is cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.
q. Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are physical and software assets controlled by the Society that are used in
the delivery of charitable or support activities.
Tangible fixed assets are recorded when they have an aggregate cost of at least £2,500. They are
recorded initially at cost including the costs of bringing them to location and state in which they
can be used for their intended purpose.
The cost of the assets is depreciated evenly over their expected useful life with the Society to the
expected residual value at the end of its useful life. Depreciation is charged from the point that the
asset is ready for use. Initial depreciation rates are based on the following expected lives of assets:
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
Asset type Initial expected life Initial expected residual
value
Freehold land Infinite Cost
Freehold buildings 50 years Nil
Leasehold land and
buildings including
improvements
Lease life (application of
policy to first break of
lease)
Nil
Vehicles 4 years Nil
Other Assets 4 years Nil
Software 4 years Nil
After purchase, freehold land and buildings are carried at their open market value. Valuations are
carried out on a rolling three- year programme by a Chartered Surveyor. Where market value is
above carrying value, this amount is first applied as reversal of depreciation then as an increase in
cost. Surpluses arising are transferred to a revaluation reserve as required by the Companies Act.
Where the market value is below carrying value, deficits arising are first treated as reversals of
valuation then as additional depreciation. To the extent that the revaluation reserve has not been
realised through depreciation, deficits arising are charged against the revaluation reserve.
r. Investments
Investments are recorded at cost when purchased. Where the market value of an investment can
be determined by reference to an external market or a professional valuation, the investment is
carried at its open-market value.
Investment property is property held by the Society for the purposes of generating income and/or
capital growth. These buildings are not used by the Society for its purposes. Investment property
is recorded initially at cost and remeasured each year at its open-market value.
Gains and losses on remeasurement are reported in income and expenditure.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
84 85
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
s. Current assets
Trade debtors are recorded at the amount invoiced in accordance with the agreement to which
they relate, less any impairment of the asset.
Costs incurred that relate to future periods are carried as prepayments within current assets.
Income that has met the conditions to be recognised either as a result of being earned under an
agreement or being a future donation or legacy, able to be recognised as set out above, is
recorded within accrued income.
Cash at bank and in hand represents the value of all cash and bank holdings that are available for
immediate use.
Where fixed assets have been put on sale and are expected to be sold within the next financial
year, their cost or valuation and accumulated depreciation are removed from fixed assets and the
asset recorded as an asset held for sale. Assets held for sale are carried at the lower of cost or
valuation less accumulated depreciation at the date of being placed on sale or the net amount
recoverable from the sale, less associated costs.
t. Impairment of assets
When external events relating to markets or technology or internal events relating to the plans and
activities of the Society indicate that the value of an asset may be impaired, an impairment review
is conducted. The review determines whether the recoverable value of the asset is above or below
its carrying value, using external open-market values or other accepted valuation techniques.
If the recoverable amount of the asset is below its carrying value, the dierence is written o. To
the extent that the reduction in value represents the reversal of undepreciated revaluation
surpluses, the reduction is treated as a reversal of the revaluation. Any further reduction is
recorded as an impairment of the asset in depreciation.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
86 87
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
u. Liabilities and provisions
Liabilities are recognised when the Society has a legal or contractual obligation to transfer
resources to another party to settle that obligation. Liabilities are recorded at the best estimate of
the amount that will be required to settle the obligation.
When the timing, value or both of the liability is uncertain, a provision is recognised at the best
estimate of the amount to be paid.
v. Financial instruments
The Society applies the provisions of sections 11 and 12 of FRS 102 in full.
Financial instruments are recorded initially at their transaction costs. Financial instruments held at
fair value through profit and loss are subsequently measured and reported at their fair value.
Changes in fair value from remeasurement are recorded in income and expenditure.
Financial instruments that are debt or financial liabilities are subsequently measured and reported
at their amortised cost using the eective interest method. Remeasurement gains and losses are
reported in income and expenditure.
w. Assets held on behalf of other charities
The Society from time to time holds assets on behalf of other charities. When such assets held are
held separately from those belonging to the Society, they are not recorded in the financial
statements. When the assets are combined with other assets of the Society, for example in pooled
investments, the portion of the value of the assets held on behalf of the other charity is recorded
as a liability. Income, expenditure, and gains and losses related to the portion of the assets held on
behalf of the other charity are not reported in the statement of financial activities.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
88 89
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
2 Income from donations and legacies
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Donations
Christingle 814 -
814 822 -
822
House boxes
728
-
728
888
-
888
Other donations 6,521 -
6,521 6,543 -
6,543
Legacies 6,881 -
6,881 4,324 -
4,324
Total income from donations and
legacies 14,944 -
14,944 12,577 -
12,577
3
Income from charitable activities
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Providing direct support to children
and young people 11,464 379 11,843 9,550 497 10,047
Changing governmental and societal
systems 1,540 637 2,177 1,186 848 2,034
Total income from charitable activities 13,004 1,016 14,020 10,736 1,345 12,081
4 Income from trading activities
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Income from retail activities 11,511 -
11,511 11,684 -
11,684
Card sales
103
-
103
84
-
84
Event entry fees 12 -
12 4 -
4
Total income from trading activities 11,626 -
11,626 11,772 -
11,772
5 Income from investments
Unrestricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
Income from financial investments
29
-
29
8
6
14
Income from investment properties 9 -
9 9 -
9
Total investment income 38 -
38 17 6 23
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
1 Accounting policies (continued)
x. Uncertainties and judgements
The principal judgements made in the preparation of the financial statements have been in
relation to:
• The assumptions underlying the valuation of the pension scheme deficit disclosed in note
11. The assumptions have been prepared with advice from a qualified actuary.
• The allocation of costs to activities as described above.
• The expected future cost of making good dilapidations to and removing fixtures and
fittings from properties held on operating leases.
The most important uncertainties that the Society faces in the preparation of the financial
statements are:
• The uncertainty around high inflation, cost of living crisis and rising interest rates.
• Whether investments can be realised at the market value stated.
• Whether the assumptions on asset return and future cost of the defined benefit pension
scheme are borne out.
• Continued funding from government organisations.
• Continued receipt of material values of legacies in future years.
• The future need to invest for growth, particularly unrestricted income to help ensure
income keeps up with rising costs and to deliver our strategic ambition.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
90 91
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
9 Support costs and their allocation to activities
2025
Direct
services
Changing
systems
Donations
& legacies Retail Total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
HR and organisational development
1,342 206 235 407 2,190
Property services
82 - - 287 369
Information systems
2,475 379 434 751 4,040
Financial processing and management
887 136 156 269 1,447
Senior management
343 53 60 104 560
Governance
149 23 26 45 244
Total support costs 5,278 796 912 1,865 8,851
The allocation basis for support costs is set out in note 1 Accounting policies
2024
Direct
services
Changing
systems
Donations
& legacies Retail Total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
HR and organisational development
1,280 261 387 465 2,393
Property services
42 - - 342 384
Information systems
2,074 422 626 752 3,874
Financial processing and management
484 98 146 176 904
Senior management
283 58 86 103 530
Governance
176 36 53 64 329
Total support costs 4,339 875 1,298 1,902 8,414
Governance costs are made up of:
2025 2024
£000 £000
External audit
64 60
Internal audit
113 86
Trustee Board administration
– 132
Trustee recruitment
34 18
Trustee expenses
3 2
Trustee meetings
4 9
Professional fees
– 2
Senior Leadership Team
133 179
Total governance costs
351 488
Senior Leadership Team costs represent a proportion of the Senior management costs allocated across all activities.
10 Trustees and sta
Group and Society
Average monthly number of full-time equivalent sta employed in:
2025 2024
Providing direct support to children and young people
319 262
Changing governmental and societal systems
53 59
Direct fundraising
56 79
Retail operations
194 190
Support services
91 83
Total
713 673
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
6 Other income
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Sundry income 15 - 15 22 - 22
Total income from other sources 15 - 15 22 - 22
7 Expenditure on raising funds
Direct
costs
Support
costs
Total
costs
Direct
costs
Support
costs
Total
costs
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Direct fundraising 5,222 912 6,134 5,292 1,298 6,590
Costs of retail operations 11,235 1,864 13,099 10,568 1,902 12,470
Total expenditure on raising funds 16,457 2,776 19,233 15,860 3,200 19,060
8 Expenditure on charitable activities
Direct
costs
Support
costs
Total
costs
Direct
costs
Support
costs
Total
costs
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Providing direct support to children and young
people 15,188 5,278 20,466 12,557 4,340 16,897
Changing governmental and societal systems 3,783 796 4,579 4,065 874 4,939
Total expenditure on charitable activities 18,971 6,074 25,045 16,622 5,214 21,836
Providing direct support to children and young people £279,000 (2024 - £407,000) of costs are restricted funds during the year.
Changing government and societal systems £554,000 (2024 - £768,000) of costs are restricted funds during the year.
Net income is arrived at after charging:
2025 2024
£000 £000
Amortisation of intangible fixed assets
328 697
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets
599 361
Rentals payable under operating leases
2,624 2,514
Auditor's remuneration
Audit of the Group's financial statements
64 60
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
92 93
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
11 Pensions
The Children’s Society operates three pension schemes, a defined contributions scheme, a defined benefits scheme and a multi-
employer mixed defined benefit and money purchase scheme for additional voluntary contributions within The Pensions Trust
Growth Plan (‘the Growth Plan’).
The defined contribution scheme is managed by Scottish Widows. The scheme is compliant with the pension reform rules for
automatic enrolment. Contributions by the employee are matched by the employer up to a limit of 8% of salary and a salary
sacrifice option is oered. The cost of employer contributions due as a result of service in the year was £1,193,542 (2024:
£971,461).
The defined benefits scheme is externally funded and is contracted-in to the state second-tier of pension provision. Retirement
benefits within this scheme are based on employees’ final remuneration and length of service. The scheme was closed to new
members in June 2003 and is managed by The Pensions Trust and is covered in note 11(a).
"The Growth Plan" is a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to some 521 non-associated participating employers. The
scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK but is not possible for us to obtain sucient information to enable us to account for
the scheme as a defined benefit scheme. Therefore we account for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme. The scheme is
subject to the funding legislation outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This, together
with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Reporting Council, set out the framework for funding defined
benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK. The scheme is classified as a 'last-man standing arrangement'. Therefore we
are potentially liable for other participating employers' obligations if those employers are unable to meet their share of the
scheme deficit following withdrawal from the scheme. Participating employers are legally required to meet their share of the
scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on withdrawal from the scheme. This is covered in more detail in note 11(b).
11(a) Defined benefit scheme
An actuarial valuation is being carried out as at 30 September 2024 and the preliminary results of this have been updated to 31
March 2025 by a qualified actuary, independent of the Scheme's sponsoring employer. The most recently completed actuarial
valuation as at 30 September 2021 showed a surplus of £1,954,000. The major assumptions used by the actuary are shown
below.
TCS the employer has agreed with the trustee that it will pay 17.5% p.a. of pensionable earnings (previously 17.5% p.a.) in respect
of the cost of accruing benefits for members who are not participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement and 27.5% p.a. of
pensionable earnings (previous 27.5% p.a.) for members participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement and will pay £187,800
per annum to meet scheme expenses and levies to the Pension Protection Fund. Member contributions are payable in addition at
the rate of 10.0% p.a. of pensionable earnings for members who are not participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement.
We have been notified by the pension scheme trustee that there may be a potential issue surrounding changes made to the
scheme rules between 1995 and 2006, over which the trustee is seeking clarification from the courts. The trustee of The
Pensions Trust (“the Trust”) has completed a review of the changes made to the benefit structures of the defined benefit pension
schemes within the Trust, which involved reviewing the changes made to the benefits over the years;
- the trustee determined that it is prudent to follow best practice and seek directions from the Court;
- the Court case is known as Verity Trustees Limited v Wood and commenced on 12 February 2025;
- an outcome is expected no earlier than the autumn of 2025;
- the Court case has an interaction with the issues considered in the Virgin Media Limited v NTL Pension Trustees II Limited and
this case may or may not impact the schemes within the Trust, depending on the outcome of the Verity Trustees Limited v
Wood case;
- it is unclear at this stage whether the Verity Trustees Limited v Wood case, including the impact of the Virgin Media judgment,
may give rise to an additional liability.
The matter is unlikely to be resolved before the autumn of 2025 at the earliest, and as such it is not possible to determine with
any accuracy what the impact might be of any direction the court may, or may not, give. Many factors will impact the future
valuation of the pension scheme, none of which can be accurately predicted at the present time. No adjustment has therefore
been made to the amounts included in the financial statements in respect of this potential issue.
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
10 Trustees and sta (continued)
Average monthly number of sta employed in:
2025 2024
Providing direct support to children and young people
391 322
Changing governmental and societal systems
57 62
Direct fundraising
57 81
Retail operations
251 241
Support services
96 87
Total
852 793
Costs of sta
2025 2024
Group and Society
£000 £000
Wages and salaries
24,661 22,830
Social security
2,238 2,063
Pensions
1,194 1,422
Redundancy and compensation for loss of oce
497 122
Agency stang
325 407
Total
28,915 26,844
The total amount paid in the year for redundancy and compensation for loss of oce was £393,088.96 (2024: £176,628.28).
The amount accrued for future redundancy payments at the balance sheet date was £104,402.00 (2024: Nil).
Higher paid sta
The number of employees with remuneration in excess of £60,000 including redundancy and compensation for loss of oce
but excluding pension contributions is analysed into the following bands:
2025 2024
Number Number
Between £60,001 and £70,000
10 13
Between £70,001 and £80,000
6 4
Between £80,001 and £90,000
– 1
Between £90,001 and £100,000
1 1
Between £100,001 and £110,000
3 2
Between £110,001 and £120,000
– 1
Between £130,001 and £140,000
1 1
The Society paid pension contributions into a money purchase scheme of £97,623 (2024: £111,441) for 21 (2024: 23) of the
higher paid sta.
Key management personnel
The key management personnel serving in the year comprise the chief executive ocer, executive director youth impact,
executive director finance & strategy, executive director social impact and executive director people, culture & transformation.
The total remuneration paid to key management personnel was £627,138 (2024: £645,545).
The salary of the chief executive during the year ended 31 March 2025 comprised of salary £137,802 (2024: £135,099).
In addition, the company paid pension contributions of £7,464 (2024: £6,755) into a defined contribution scheme.
Trustee remuneration
No members of the Trustee Board received, or were entitled to receive, any remuneration. Where expenses were claimed,
reimbursement was made. In the year, travelling expenses of £448.00 (2024: £17) were reimbursed to 3 trustees (2024: 1).
Trustee indemnity insurance was purchased at a cost of £8,820 (2024: £8,820).
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
94 95
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
11 Pensions (continued)
11(a) Defined benefit scheme (continued)
Profit and loss impact
2025 2024
£000 £000
Current service cost
78 75
Past service cost
-
-
Expenses
307 245
Interest on obligation
5,223 5,354
Expected return on scheme assets
(5,158) (5,515)
Total 450 159
Movement in defined benefit obligation
2025 2024
£000 £000
Opening defined benefit obligation
111,548 115,727
Current service cost
78 75
Past service cost
-
-
Interest cost
5,223 5,354
Contributions by employees
5 10
Actuarial loss/(gain)
(12,343) (3,444)
Benefits paid
(5,634) (6,174)
Closing defined benefit obligation 98,877 111,548
Change in fair value of the scheme assets
2025 2024
£000 £000
Opening value of the scheme assets
110,238 119,111
Expected return
5,158 5,515
Expenses
(307) (245)
Actuarial (loss)/gain
(9,704) (8,305)
Contributions by employer
330 326
Contributions by employees
5 10
Benefits paid
(5,634) (6,174)
Closing fair value of the scheme assets 100,086 110,238
Actual return on scheme assets
(4,546) (2,790)
Defined benefit costs recognised in other comprehensive income
2025 2024
£000 £000
Return on plan assets (excluding amounts included in net interest cost)
(9,704) (8,305)
Experience gains and losses arising on the plan liabilities
415 (873)
Eects of changes in the demographic and financial assumptions
underlying the present value of the plan liabilities
10,893 4,317
Payment to eliminate deficit
-
-
Eect of asset ceiling
-
-
Eliminate FRS102 scheme surplus
-
-
Total amount recognised in other comprehensive income 1,604 (4,861)
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
11 Pensions (continued)
The assumptions used by the actuary are the best estimates chosen each year from a range of possible actuarial
assumptions which, due to the timescale covered, may not necessarily be borne out in practice.
2025 2024
Rate of increase in salaries
0.00% 0.00%
Rate of increase in pensions in payment
2.60% 2.80%
Discount rate
5.60% 4.80%
Inflation assumption (RPI)
3.12% 3.17%
Rate of increase for deferred pensions
3.12% 3.17%
The rate of increase in salaries is assumed at 0% as pensionable salaries for active members were frozen as at 31 December
2013.
Life expectancy included in the valuation of the scheme is calculated using the S4PXA (All Pensioners - Pension Amounts)
tables with a best estimate scheme-specific scaling factor of 102% (2024 -106%). The base tables have been projected
using the S4PXA projection model with a long-term improvement rate 1.5% for males and of 1.25% for females.
The resulting average life-expectancies in years (age at death) were:
Pensioners retiring: 2025 2024
Females Males Females Males
Now 23.7 (88.7) 21.3 (86.3) 24.0 (89.1) 21.4 (86.7)
In 20 years 25.1 (90.1) 22.9 (87.9) 25.4 (90.6) 23.1 (88.3)
Assets and liabilities of the scheme
2025 2024
£000 £000
Bonds (including LDI's)
70,891 89,834
Equities
88 124
Property
10,619 10,541
Cash
2,602 1,670
Other
15,886 8,069
Scheme assets 100,086 110,238
Present value of scheme liabilities
(98,877) (111,548)
Surplus/(Deficit) in the scheme - pension liability 1,209 (1,310)
Eect of asset ceiling
(1,035) -
Eliminate FRS102 scheme surplus
-
-
Present value of Growth Plan provision (note 11(b))
22 (9)
Net pension liability 196 (1,319)
For prudence, net gains on are not recognised in the financial statements.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
96 97
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
12 Intangible fixed assets
Software Total
£000 £000
Group and Society
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2024 3,468 3,468
Transfer/adj 164 164
Additions 134 134
Disposals -
-
WIP 126 126
Revaluation -
-
At 31 March 2025 3,892 3,892
Amortisation
At 1 April 2024 1,474 1,474
Transfer/adj 488 488
Amortisation charged 328 328
Released on disposal – –
Revaluation – –
At 31 March 2025 2,290 2,290
Net book value
At 31 March 2025 1,602 1,602
At 31 March 2024 1,994 1,994
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
11 Pensions (continued)
11(a)
Defined benefit scheme (continued)
Sensitivity analysis
Changes in assumptions would have the following indicative eects on the liabilities of the
scheme:
Assumption change Eect on liabilities
Increase / decrease in discount rate by 0.1% 2% increase / decrease in liabilities
Increase / decrease inflation linked assumptions by 0.1% per
annum
2% increase / decrease of inflation linked
liabilities
Increase / decrease in life expectancy of 1 year
3-5% increase / decrease in
liabilities
11(b) The Growth Plan
The Children’s Society participates in The Pensions Trust Growth Plan, a multi-employer scheme which provides
benefits to some 521 non-associated participating employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK.
A full actuarial valuation of the scheme was carried out as at 30 September 2023. This valuation showed assets of
£514.9m, liabilities of £531.0m and a deficit of £16.1m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustee has asked the
participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:
Deficit contributions (relating to all 638 employers)
From 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028: £2,100,000 per annum (payable monthly)
The recovery plan contributions are allocated to each participating employer in line with their estimated share of the
Series 1 and Series 2 scheme liabilities.
2025 2024
£000
£000
Present values of provision (only relating to The Children's Society)
22 9
2025 2024
£000 £000
Changes in provision
Provision at start of period
9 19
Unwinding of the discount factor (interest expense)
-
1
Deficit contributions paid
(9) (11)
Remeasurements - impact of any change in assumptions
-
-
Remeasurements - amendments to the contribution schedule 22 -
Provision at end of period 22 9
Profit and loss impact
Interest expense
-
1
Remeasurements – impact of any change in assumptions
-
-
Remeasurements – amendments to the contribution schedule
22 -
2025 2024
Assumptions
Discount rate
4.84% 5.31%
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
98 99
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
14
Investments
Group and Society
Investment
properties
Listed
investments
Total
£000 £000 £000
At 1 April 2023
165 39,359 39,524
Purchases
- 13 13
Transfer from fixed assets
- - -
Sales
- (2,000) (2,000)
Realised and unrealised gains - Society
- 3,832 3,832
At 1 April 2024
165 41,204 41,369
Purchases
- 2,015 2,015
Transfer from fixed assets
- (8) (8)
Sales
- (6,543) (6,543)
Realised and unrealised gains - Society
- 1,466 1,466
At 31 March 2025
165 38,134 38,299
15 Debtors
Group
Society
2025
2024
2025
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
Trade debtors
2,862 2,533
594 1,401
Prepayments and accrued income
6,377 5,494
6,377 5,494
Taxation debtors
-
-
-
-
Other debtors
31 9
31 9
Amounts due from subsidiary
- -
697 -
Total debtors 9,270 8,036
7,699 6,904
16 Creditors: amounts due within one year
Group
Society
2025 2024
2025 2024
£000 £000
£000 £000
Trade creditors
656 692
656 692
Accruals
2,325 2,493
2,325 2,493
Deferred income
3,161 3,581
1,193 2,274
Taxation and social security
612 818
612 818
Other creditors
109 118
109 118
Amounts due to subsidiary
- -
- 1,648
Total creditors: amounts due within one year 6,863 7,702 4,895 8,043
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
13 Tangible fixed assets
Freehold land &
buildings
Leasehold
land &
buildings Vehicles
Other
Assets Total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Group and Society
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2024 2,463 7,416 68 4,168 14,115
Transfer/adj (428) 245 -
(347) (530)
Additions -
413 -
269 682
Disposals -
-
-
-
-
WIP -
217 -
-
217
Revaluation / Impairment -
-
-
-
-
At 31 March 2025 2,035 8,291 68 4,090 14,484
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024 944 6,841 33 4,052 11,870
Transfer/adj (392) 245 - (467) (614)
Depreciation charged 36 320 10 233 599
Released on disposal - - - - -
Revaluation / Impairment - - - - -
At 31 March 2025 588 7,406 43 3,818 11,855
Net book value
At 31 March 2025 1,447 885 26 272 2,630
At 31 March 2024 1,519 575 35 116 2,245
Freehold land & buildings used by The Children's Society are revalued following the policy set out in note 1. Valuations are carried
out by the Society's Estates Surveyor, Ian Birtwistle MRICS. The most recent valuations were carried out in 2022.
If the properties (including those held for sale and in investments) had not been revalued, they would be reported in the accounts
with a cost of £2,164,519 (2024: £2,164,519) and accumulated depreciation of £724,786 (2024: £646,942) leaving a net value of
£1,517,577 (2024: £1,439,733).
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
100 101
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
18 Commitments
At 31 March 2025, the Group and Society had £Nil (2024: Nil) of authorised but not contracted capital commitments and Nil (2024:
Nil) contracted capital commitments that had not been reflected in the financial statements.
Minimum payments under operating leases are:
2025
Land and
buildings
Motor
vehicles
Oce
equipment Total
£000 £000 £000 £000
Amounts falling due:
within one year
2,097 117 - 2,214
between two and five years
5,063 133 - 5,196
after more than five years
- - - -
Total operating lease commitments 7,160 250 – 7,410
2024
Land and
buildings
Motor
vehicles
Oce
equipment Total
£000 £000 £000 £000
Amounts falling due:
within one year
1,927 111 - 2,038
between two and five years
4,806 202 - 5,008
after more than five years
134 - - 134
Total operating lease commitments 6,867 313 - 7,180
19 Contingent liabilities
In common with other charitable organisations, the Society receives legacies arising from wills where the executor has been unable
to locate one or more beneficiaries. In these circumstances, the Society may provide an indemnity to the executor under which any
funds required to be paid to the missing beneficiary or beneficiaries is recovered from the Society. At the date of these accounts
the value of such indemnities provided totals was £347,794 (2024: £347,794).
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
16 Creditors: amounts due within one year (continued)
Deferred income arises as a result of payment or billing in advance for activities that are to be delivered in the future.
Group
Society
2025 2024
2025 2024
£000 £000
£000 £000
Deferred income at the start of the year
3,581 3,448
2,274 2,737
Deferred income brought forward released in the year
(3,063) (3,193)
(1,162) (2,762)
Income deferred from the year
2,561 3,326
81 2,299
Deferred income at the end of the year 3,079 3,581 1,193 2,274
17 Provisions for liabilities
Group and Society
Property
dilapidations
Total
provisions
£000 £000
At 1 April 2024
1,017 1,017
Charged in the year
–
–
Used in the year
(39) (39)
Released unused
5 5
Total provisions
983 983
Property
dilapidations
Total
provisions
£000 £000
Amounts due within one year
331 331
Amounts due after more than one year
652 652
Total provisions
983 983
Under the terms of operating leases for properties, the Society is required to make good any demerit in the condition of properties
and to remove fixtures and fittings added to the building during the course of the lease. The amounts and timing of the amounts due
are not certain, as leases may be curtailed or extended and the cost of works is not known until they are carried out. The value of
works required is estimated by suitably qualified and experienced chartered surveyors.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
102 103
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
20 Funds (continued)
General
funds
Designated
funds
Pension
deficit
fund
Restricted
funds
Endow-
ment
funds Total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Intangible fixed assets - 1,602 - - - 1,602
Tangible fixed assets - 2,630 - - - 2,630
Investments 15,841 9,133 - - 13,325 38,299
Total fixed assets 15,841 13,365 - - 13,325 42,531
Cash (819) - - 1,619 - 800
Other current assets 9,270 - - - - 9,270
Total current assets 8,451 - - 1,619 - 10,070
Current liabilities 6,863 - - - - 6,863
Net current assets 1,588 - - 1,619 - 3,207
Provisions for liabilities 652 - - - - 652
Net assets excluding pension
deficit 16,777 13,365 - 1,619 13,325 45,086
Pension deficit - - (22) - - (22)
Net assets 16,777 13,365 (22) 1,619 13,325 45,064
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
20 Funds
Group
Balance
at 31
March
2024 Income
Expend-
iture
Other
gains
and
(losses) Transfers
Balance
at 31
March
2025
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Unrestricted funds
General funds 19,169 39,627 (41,814) (205) - 16,777
Designated funds:
Fixed Asset fund 4,239 - (926) 919 - 4,232
Impact fund 8,596 - (705) 278 64 8,233
Slack fund - - - - 900 900
Total designated funds 12,835 - (1,631) 1,197 964 13,365
Unrestricted funds before
pension deficit liability 32,004 39,627 (43,445) 992 964 30,142
Pension deficit fund (1,319) - - 1,297 - (22)
Total unrestricted funds 30,685 39,627 (43,445) 2,289 964 30,120
Restricted funds
The National Lottery Community Fund 864 - (567) - - 297
Other grants 636 1,016 (266) - (64) 1,322
Total restricted funds 1,500 1,016 (833) - (64) 1,619
Endowment funds
The Children's Society Fund 7,090 - - 229 - 7,319
Charnwood House 1,903 - - 61 - 1,964
Charnwood Forest 1,262 - - 41 - 1,303
Hampshire Girls and Boys Trust 1,165 - - 38 - 1,203
The George and Marion Slack Fund 1,455 - - 47 (900) 602
The Croghan Fund 905 - - 29 - 934
Total endowment funds 13,780 - - 445 (900) 13,325
Total funds 45,965 40,643 (44,278) 2,734 - 45,064
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
104 105
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
20
Funds (continued)
Group
Balance
at 31
March
2023
Income
Expend-
iture
Other
gains
and
(losses)
Transfers
Balance
at 31
March
2024
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
Unrestricted funds
General funds
21,297
35,124
(38,944)
1,570
122
19,169
Designated funds:
Property fund
5,140
-
(901)
-
-
4,239
Impact fund
7,883
-
(200)
913
-
8,596
Total designated funds
13,023
-
(1,101)
913
-
12,835
Unrestricted funds before
pension deficit liability
34,320
35,124
(40,045)
2,483
122
32,004
Pension deficit fund
(19)
-
324
(1,624)
-
(1,319)
Total unrestricted funds
34,301
35,124
(39,721)
859
122
30,685
Restricted funds
The National Lottery
Community Fund
746
1,003
(885)
-
-
864
Other grants
584
342
(290)
-
-
636
Total restricted funds
1,330
1,345
(1,175)
-
-
1,500
Endowment funds
The Children's Society Fund
6,408
3
-
701
(22)
7,090
Charnwood House
1,714
1
-
188
-
1,903
Charnwood Forest
1,136
1
-
125
-
1,262
Hampshire Girls and Boys
Trust
1,050
-
-
115
-
1,165
The George and Marion Slack
Fund
1,310
1
-
144
-
1,455
The Croghan Fund
915
-
-
90
(100)
905
Total endowment funds
12,533
5
-
1,363
(122)
13,780
Total funds
48,164
36,475
(40,896)
2,222
-
45,965
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
20 Funds (continued)
Group
Balance
at 31
March
2023 Income
Expend-
iture
Other
gains
and
(losses) Transfers
Balance
at 31
March
2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Unrestricted funds
General funds 21,297 35,124 (38,944) 1,570 122 19,169
Designated funds:
Property fund 5,140 - (901) - - 4,239
Impact fund 7,883 - (200) 913 - 8,596
Total designated funds 13,023 - (1,101) 913 - 12,835
Unrestricted funds before
pension deficit liability 34,320 35,124 (40,045) 2,483 122 32,004
Pension deficit fund (19) - 324 (1,624) - (1,319)
Total unrestricted funds 34,301 35,124 (39,721) 859 122 30,685
Restricted funds
The National Lottery
Community Fund 746 1,003 (885) - - 864
Other grants 584 342 (290) - - 636
Total restricted funds 1,330 1,345 (1,175) - - 1,500
Endowment funds
The Children's Society Fund 6,408 3 - 701 (22) 7,090
Charnwood House 1,714 1 - 188 - 1,903
Charnwood Forest 1,136 1 - 125 - 1,262
Hampshire Girls and Boys
Trust 1,050 - - 115 - 1,165
The George and Marion Slack
Fund 1,310 1 - 144 - 1,455
The Croghan Fund 915 - - 90 (100) 905
Total endowment funds 12,533 5 - 1,363 (122) 13,780
Total funds 48,164 36,475 (40,896) 2,222 - 45,965
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
20 Funds (continued)
Description of funds
General funds represent the other assets available for the general purposes of the Society.
Designated Fixed Asset fund (previously called Property fund) represents the carrying value including revaluations of land
and buildings held for use in the activities of The Children's Society and the net book value of all other tangible and
intangible fixed assets.
The Impact fund has a purpose to help enhance our strategic ambition by funding innovative pilots and projects for which
traditional forms of funding are unavailable. It was started from the trustees transferring £3.5m from funds remaining from
a previous strategy designated fund. It further benefitted from a £4.5m transfer that came from The Children's Society
endowment fund and the Spooner Trust. These transfers represent unrealised gains from the endowment fund over
several years, with permission granted from the Charity Commission to use these funds for the purpose of the Impact
fund. The funds are held as partof our investment portfolio and the amount transferred represents the expenditure
incurred during the year from the Impact Fund. The expenditure is in line with the projects approved by the trustees.
The Slack Fund represents a fund transfer from endowments of £0.9m following permission from the Charity Commission
in June 2024, for the public benefit to care for and support children and young people in need, whether material, physical,
mental, emotional, spiritual or otherwise by promoting or otherwise advancing their education or training (including by way
of apprenticeship schemes) in such ways as the Children’s Society, as trustee, thinks fit.
Restricted funds represent the remaining unspent amount of donations, grants and legacies given to be used for specific
purposes or in specific areas. Details of grants received are in note 24.
Endowment funds have additional restrictions on the use of capital. The funds are held as part of our investment portfolio.
The Children's Society Fund and The Spooner Trust are held to generate income to use for the purpose and mission of the
charity and have been merged together. The George and Marion Slack Fund is held to provide educational opportunities
for disadvantaged children and young people. Charnwood House, Charnwood Forest, Hampshire Boys & Girls Trust and
The Children's Society are held to generate income to provide care and support to children and young people in specific
places in England. The Children's Society was transferred into Hampshire Boys & Girls Trust. The Croghan Fund is to
support young people in education.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
106 107
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
21 Financial instruments
Group Society
2025 2024 2025 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000
Financial assets measured at fair value through profit and loss
Financial investments
38,134 41,204 38,134 41,204
Debt instruments measured at amortised cost
Trade debtors
2,862 2,533 594 1,401
Other debtors
31 9 31 9
Amounts due from subsidiaries
-
-
697
-
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost
Trade creditors
656 692 656 692
Accruals
2,325 2,493 2,325 2,493
Other creditors
109 118 109 118
Amounts due to subsidiaries
- - - 1,648
22 Subsidiary undertakings
The Society owns the whole share capital of The Children's Society (Trading) Limited, registered in England and Wales no.
885496 whose principal activity is to carry out commercial activities that generate funds in aid of the Society, and The
Children's Society (Services) Limited, registered in England and Wales no. 4545124, whose principal activity is to provide
funded direct services for the beneficiaries of the Society.
Both companies have entered into an agreement to donate their taxable surplus each year to the Society under the
corporate Gift Aid scheme.
A summary of the information disclosed in the companies' accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 is:
Services Trading
2025 2024 2025 2024
Summarised profit and loss account
Income
7,630 5,137 306 335
Expenditure
(6,973) (4,721) (226) (237)
Profit for the year 657 416 80 98
Gift Aid distribution to The Children's Society (657) (416) (80) (98)
Retained earnings - - - -
Summarised balance sheet
Current assets
2,613 3,125 272 195
Current liabilities
(2,613) (3,125) (272) (195)
Net assets
-
-
-
-
Share capital
–
–
–
–
Retained reserves
– – – –
Total reserves
– – – –
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2025
23 Related parties
Information on Trustees' expenses is set out in note 9.
The total amount of Trustee donations made, without conditions, was £4,625 (2024: £8,575).
Transactions with subsidiary undertakings
2025 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000
Services Trading Services Trading
Balance sheet amounts
Amounts due to the parent undertaking
645 52 - 195
Amounts due from the parent undertaking
- - 1,593 -
Income
Donations from the parent undertaking
- - - -
Expenditure
Donations to the parent undertaking
657 80 416 98
24 Grants received
The National Lottery Community Fund (previously The Big Lottery)
Reaching Communities Grants
Disrupting Exploitation
39
Other Grants
BBC Children in Need - Safeguarding Children At Risk -
Prevention and Action 250
Other grants from charitable bodies in the year amount to:
National Prevention Project CSE/A
715
Safe Zones
287
Other
96
Total
1,387
Section J: Corporate
information
Honorary vice-presidents
Mrs A Lush MBE
Dr N de M Rudolf MA BM BCh FRSM
Young trustees
Brogan
Cree
Esther
James
Jo
Maryam (stepped down November 2024)
Muna
Rose
Board of trustees
The Rt Rev’d Elizabeth Lane, Bishop of Derby, interim Chair (appointed in November
2024) (c)
Diane Blausten, Senior Independent Director (SID) (c)
Alyson Coates (a) (b)
Jim Cliord OBE (term ended in November 2024) (b)
Chris Coles (a)
Deborah Harris-Ugbomah FCA (b)
Helen Keppel-Compton (a)
Florence Kroll CBE (b)
Sam Monaghan (c)
Sarah Payne CBE (c)
David Ramsden, Honorary Treasurer (a)
Diane Noble (sabbatical in 2024/25, stepped down April 2025)
Sharon Ward (appointed in November 2024) (b)
Stella McAteer (appointed in November 2024)
Jamie Elliott (appointed in November 2024)
Will Fernandez (appointed in November 2024)
The Church of England Children’s Society
(A company limited by guarantee)
Also known as The Children’s Society
Registered oce
Whitecross Studios
50 Banner Street
London
EC1Y 8ST
Company registration no: 40004
Charity registration no: 221124
Telephone
020 7841 4400
Website
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/
Subsidiary companies
The Children’s Society (Services) Limited, company no: 4545124
The Children’s Society (Trading) Limited, company no: 885496
Royal president
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester LG GCVO
Presidents
The Most Reverend and Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Reverend and Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of York
Stephen Cottrell
Vice-presidents
Diocesan Bishops of the Church of England
The Children’s Society
108
Our impact 2024/25
109
Members of committees
Vincent Anane-Nimoh (c)
Sara Boiten (c)
Raj Cheema (b)
Alison Hopkinson (a)
Nasima Patel (b)
Leon Ward (c)
Vannessa Whitehead (b)
Alexandra Barrington (appointed in August 2024) (b)
Alaba Dayo-Payne (appointed in August 2024) (b)
Company Secretary
Matthew Scott-Pearce
Chief Executive Ocer
Mark Russell
Executive Director, People, Culture & Transformation
Michelle Clark
Executive Director, Youth Impact
Nerys Anthony
Executive Director, Finance and Strategy
Segun Olowookere
Executive Director, Social Impact
Joe Jenkins
External Auditor
HaysMac LLP, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1AG
Bankers
Barclays plc, 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP
a. Member of the Finance and Investment Committee
b. Member of the Risk, Audit, and Compliance Committee
c. Member of the Organisational Development Committee
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
110 111
Name Trustee
board
Finance and
Investment
Committee
Risk,
Audit, and
Compliance
Committee
Organisational
Development
Committee
Trustee
board
away
days
Trustee board members
The Rt Rev’d Elizabeth
Lane, Bishop of Derby,
interim Chair (appointed
in November 2024) (c)
5/6 3/4
Diane Blausten, Senior
Independent Director
(SID) (c)
6/6 4/4
Alyson Coates (a) (b) 5/6 4/4 3/4
Jim Cliord OBE (term
ended in November 2024)
(b)
1/3 3/3
Chris Coles (a) 5/6 4/4
Deborah Harris-Ugbomah
FCA (b) 5/6 4/4
Helen Keppel-Compton (a) 5/6 2 /4
Florence Kroll CBE (b) 4/6 1 /4
Sam Monaghan (c) 3/6 3. 5/4
Sarah Payne CBE (c) 2/6 4/4
David Ramsden, Honorary
Treasurer (a) 6/6 4/4
Diane Noble (sabbatical in
2024/25, stepped down
April 2025)
2/2 2/2 1/1
Sharon Ward (appointed in
November 2024) (b) 2 /4 1/1
Stella McAteer (appointed
in November 2024) 2 /4
Jamie Elliott (appointed in
November 2024) 4/4
Wil Fernandez (appointed in
November 2024) 4/4
Name Trustee
board
Finance and
Investment
Committee
Risk,
Audit, and
Compliance
Committee
Organisational
Development
Committee
Trustee
board
away
days
Committee members
Vincent Anane-Nimoh (c) 0/4
Sara Boiten (c) 4/4
Raj Cheema (b) 3/4
Alison Hopkinson (a) 2 /4
Nasima Patel (b) 4/4
Leon Ward (c) 2 /4
Vannessa Whitehead (b) 1/1 1 /4
Alexandra Barrington
(appointed in August 2024)
(b)
1/1 2/2
Alaba Dayo-Payne
(appointed in August 2024)
(b)
1/1 2/2
Trustee board and committee attendance (from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025)
Honorary Lifetime Membership
During 2024/25 two individuals were awarded honorary lifetime membership
to The Children’s Society for their outstanding contribution to the charity
ԎJim Cliord OBE
ԎMarianne Head
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
112 113
Thank you to
our supporters
We’re so grateful to our strategic partners and funders
supporting our work over the past year:
ԎAlan Edward Higgs Charity
ԎAbellio Greater Anglia
ԎArmed Forces Covenant Trust
ԎBBC Children in Need
ԎBGC Group
ԎChicken Cottage Limited
ԎCoinstar
ԎConveyancing Association
ԎCrown Oce Chambers
ԎIslamic Relief UK
ԎKhaadi Corporation Limited
ԎKennedys Law
ԎLabb
ԎManchester Airports Group
ԎMr Fothergill’s
ԎMichael and Stephanie Carver
ԎPegasystems
ԎPeter Dixon Charitable Trust
ԎPurified Air
ԎRubie’s Masquerade UK
ԎThe Aim Foundation
ԎThe Christabella Charitable Trust
ԎThe Robert and Felicity Waley-Cohen Charitable Trust
ԎThe Samworth Foundation
ԎScribbler
ԎThe Sports Edit
ԎValero Energy Ltd
ԎWahegru Foundation
Thank you to our kind supporters who chose to leave us a gift in their will to in the last 12
months. We remember them with heartfelt thanks below and pay tribute to their support.
Edna Ackroyd
Heather Joan Alliston
Jill Allum
Philip H Andrews
Joyce Ann Appleton
Philip Arthur Avery
Susan Makascal Bailey
Margaret Ann Ballard
Barbara Jean Barker
Betty Grace Constance Barnett
Joan Marion Barnett
Margaret Mary Baynes
Jean Beardow
David John Bennett
Cynthia Ruth Berry
Avis Blake
Diane Yvette Bonny
Irene Broadhead
June Dorothy Brooks
Norah Kathleen Broomfield
Ann Elizabeth Brown
Lois Muriel Buckley
Margaret Buckley
Joyce Dorothy Bullock
Robert William Bunn
Mildred Elise Burgoyne
Edith Gillian Buxton
Margaret Campbell
Bessie Ann Canning
Valerie Jane Carlisle
Janet Margaret Chadwick
Audrey Mary Cheeseman
Mair Claret
Janet Mackenzie Clark
Margaret Clark
Lexie Clarke
Gillian Elizabeth Cleaver
Margaret Clipsham
Walter Philip Charles Cobb
John Alexander Cole
Nora Josephine Colley
Joy Margaret Connell
Anne Cecelia Cook
Georey Cooke
Pauline Ann Cooper
Christine Anne Coulthread
Sheila Mary Croft
Kathleen Mary Cross
Lillian Amy Currell
Barbara Alice Cutter
Jocelyn Dalton
Rosemary Jeanetta Dampier
Una Margaret Davis
Charles Ivor Davis
Peggy Jean Denman
Stella Elizabeth Dibble
Sheila Frances Dobner
Hazel Doughty
Margaret Joan Duxbury
Marian Elizabeth Eagles
Irene Easey
Jennifer Isabel Elston
Brian Emmett
Margaret Anne Exley
Bernard Manion Fennell
Margaret Ferguson
Joan Finch
Jean May Findlay
Barbara Firth
Bryan Ivor Follett
Peter Hugh Ford
Patricia Foster
Valerie Jean Fox
Elsa Margarethe Fraser
Jeanette Freeman
Mrs Fry
Dorothy Marguerite Fuller
Yvonne Jacqueline Gadd
Barbara Gardiner
Prudence Mary Gingell
Elspeth Alison Drummond
Gordon
Brenda Gove
Shirley Barbara Staord Grist
Audrey Grocott
Jean Grundy
Gillian Ann Hale
Eileen Hall
Patricia Mary Hilda Halsall
Dorothy Edna Hardwick
Pauline Hardy
Reginald Arthur Harlow
Kathleen Margaret Harris
Margaret Hartley
Elaine Margaret Hault
Mary Hawker
Marta Haworth
Marilyn Jane Healy
Peter John Helm
Joan Hey
Betty Heyworth
David James Hill
Dorothy Mossop Hilton
Janet Hobbs
Douglas Pilkington Hodgson
Joyce Beryl Holliday
Michael Holt
Margaret Elizabeth Holthouse
Kathleen Ann Horsley
Sheila Ann Horswill
Jennie May Howard
Audrey Howgate
George Raymond Huck
Philip Laurence Hutchinson
Evelyn Louise Jes
Penelope Anne Jones
Jillian Kennaugh
Christopher Allen Lane
Barbara Mary Latham
Jennifer Daisy Latto
Philip Walter Lawrence
Gordon Leaf
Margaret Elizabeth Lee
Trevor Vincent Lewis
Ann Mary Lewis
Mary Jerey Lillie
Kathleen Mary Lindsay
Anthony David Lloyd-Jones
Carol Long
Sheila Margaret Loraine White
Alfreda Mary Lowe-Willetts
Derek Macklam
Roger A Marks
Nancy Lilian Martel
Doris Ellen Joan Martin
Margaret Anne Martin
Avery Elizabeth Matthews
Alistair James McArthur
John McCann
Muriel Metcalfe
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
114 115
Beatrice Fanny Millichap
Ruth Milverton
Barbara Mitchell
Janet Moody
Edna Moore
Pamela Jean Moorhouse
Mary Marjorie Morgan-Lewis
John Haworth Myers
Jean Morrison Neal
Thelma Newman
Joan Margaret Newson
Michael John Ney
Marjorie Nunn
Ian Douglas Ogilvie
Olugbemisola Olubukola
Oshingbile
P J Otto
Elizabeth Ann Park
Barbara Jeanne Payne
Jean Peacock
Joan Pearson
Leo Pemberton
Shirley Pentland
Elizabeth Perrott
Margaret Anne Perry
Heather Grace Phillips
Pauline Olive Player
Anne Pauline Ponter
Eileen Lilian Violet Potten
Rosemary Potter
Nora Millicent Powell
Monica Evelyn Pratt
Pamela Mary Pritchard
Jill Pullman
Frederick James William Rabbatts
Doreen Mabel Raby-Wood
Kathleen Olive Reynolds
Margaret Jean Richmond
Helen Ridehalgh
Brenda Alison Ridgeway
Kenneth John Riley
June Patricia Robinson
Lena Joan Vera Roger-Jones
Gary Rowbottom
Eleanor Rutherford
Doris Caroline Saxby
Constance Jessie Schofield
Elizabeth Hilary Sheard
Audrey Violet Shilling
Rosemary Violet Simmons
Farley Casey Lindsay Sinclair
Vera Ann Sloman
Bridget Murray Smedley
William Henry Smith
Shirley Rose Smith
Christine Elizabeth Smith
Lillias Smith
Jean Smith
Margaret Snowling
Daphne Joan Sommers
Audrey Maud Spoorth
Janice Anne Stables
Sally Anne Stephens
Phyllis Mary Stokes
Dawn Stroud
William Sutclie
Kathleen Vera Symonds
Myron Tabora
Dorothy Elizabeth Ann Tandy
Jean Taylor
Christine Taylor
Pauline Felicity Taylor
Margaret Anne Telford
Ralph Harry Thornton
Kathleen Dorothy Joan Towells
Kate Emily Louise Tucker
Penelope Ann Underwood
Alan Paul Verrall
Michael Howard Wadmore
Barbara Anne Wadsworth
Pamela Doris Waite
Joy Dorothy Walker
Henry Dennis Ward
Alan Watts
Mary Barbara Patricia Whatley
Elizabeth Wheatly
Pauline Margaret Wheeler
Matthew Charles Murray Whelan
Alan Arthur White
Thomas Vincent Whitehead
Margaret Whiteley
Michael Lewis Whitfield
Fenella Ruth Wilkinson
Margaret Wilkinson
Gordon Stewart Williams
Mary Louisa Woodward
Nancy Woof
David Cordrey Wooster
Anthony Beresford Wright
Glossary
Child abuse
When a child is being deliberately harmed or
neglected, either by an adult or another child,
this is child abuse. It might happen just once,
or repeatedly over a longer period of time, and
it can happen online and oine. It might be
sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, or neglect
(where a child is not given the love and care
they need). The impact of child abuse may
not always be obvious or physical. See also
definition of ‘domestic violence and abuse’.
Child criminal exploitation
When an individual or group takes advantage
of an imbalance of power to coerce, control,
manipulate, or deceive a child or young person
under the age of 18 into any criminal activity.
This may be in exchange for something the
victim needs or wants, for the financial or other
advantage of the perpetrator or facilitator,
or through violence or the threat of violence.
The victim may have been criminally exploited
even if the activity appears consensual. Child
criminal exploitation does not always involve
physical contact; it can also occur through the
use of technology.
Child poverty
When a child grows up with limited or no
access to the essential resources they need to
survive and live a healthy, happy life, this is child
poverty. For example, their family may struggle
to aord things like food, heating, clothing, or
household bills. Households are considered to
be below the UK poverty line if their income is
below 60% of the median household income
after housing costs for that year.
Child sexual exploitation
A form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where
an individual or group takes advantage of an
imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or
deceive a child or young person under the age of
18 into sexual activity. This may be in exchange
for something the victim needs or wants, or for
the financial advantage or increased status of
the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may
have been sexually exploited even if the sexual
activity appears consensual. Child sexual
exploitation does not always involve physical
contact; it can also occur through the use
of technology.
Domestic violence and abuse
Any incident – or pattern of incidents – of
controlling, coercive, or threatening behaviour,
violence, and abuse between those aged 16
years or over, who are or have been intimate
partners or family members regardless of
gender or sexuality. This can encompass,
but is not limited to, psychological, physical,
sexual, financial, and emotional abuse. In some
cases, young people can domestically abuse
their parents and/or siblings, or adults at risk.
Domestic abuse often features: controlling
behaviour, which is defined by a range of acts
designed to make a person subordinate and/
or dependent, by isolating them from sources
of support, exploiting their resources and
capacities for personal gain, depriving them
of the means needed for independence,
resistance and escape, and regulating their
everyday behaviour, or coercive behaviour,
which is an act – or a pattern of acts – of
assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation,
or other abuse, that is used to harm, punish,
or frighten their victim.
To find out about how you can make a dierence
through a gift in your will, please contact our
supporter care team:
t: 0300 303 7000
e: legacies@childrenssociety.org.uk
childrenssociety.org.uk/gifts-in-wills
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
116 117
Early support
Early support services work with children
and young people at the earliest possible
opportunity, supporting them before or
as soon as things start to feel dierent or
dicult in their lives. The Children’s Society’s
practitioners at these services help to prevent
young people from needing more intensive
support in the future.
Mental health
Our mental health aects how we think and
feel and how we cope with stress and relate
to others. It can change throughout our lives.
Some of us might experience mental health
issues for a few months or a year; others
might face more long-term challenges.
Responding to risk
Our services responding to risk support children
and young people who have already been put
at risk of harm and experienced challenges in
their lives, like abuse, including exploitation,
or mental health issues. These services are
designed to help young people process what
has happened to them, feel safe, and recover.
Risk
When we talk about young people being at risk,
we’re referring to factors and situations that
might threaten a child’s safety, for example,
abuse, including exploitation, or neglect.
Systems change
Systems change (or systemic change) is
about working collaboratively to redesign and
influence positively the people, processes, rules,
power, and structures that make up the systems
impacting children and young people. In this
way, we can break the cycles of disadvantage
that perpetuate the challenges that young
people are facing.
Wellbeing
Wellbeing is about how we’re doing. It’s about
how we feel about our lives and ourselves.
There are two dierent measures of wellbeing.
Objective wellbeing focuses on social indicators
of quality of life like health, education, and
income. Subjective wellbeing is about personal
experiences and an individual’s own view of how
they feel about their lives. It can be aected by
our mental and physical health and vice versa,
as well as other things happening in our lives.
It is not the same as mental health.
Youth participation
Youth participation refers to the ways in which
we actively engage with young people in our
work. It includes activities like consultations
and residentials, as well as other opportunities
for young people to share their insights, stories,
and experiences with us.
Youth voice
Youth voice describes the dierent ways we
listen to and act on the views and experiences
of young people in The Children’s Society’s
work. Our youth voice work is guided by our
youth voice charter, which lays out how we
enable, equip, and support young people to
influence our work.
Endnotes
1 OECD’s Programme for International Stu-
dent Assessment (PISA) has collected data
from over three million 15-year-old students
worldwide, across more than 100 coun-
tries and economies. See: The Children’s
Society. The Good Childhood Report 2024
[Internet]. 2024 [accessed 2025 June 12].
Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/
information/professionals/resources/
good-childhood-report-2024
2 See: The Children’s Society. Action Before
Crisis [Internet]. 2024 [accessed 2025
June 12]. Available from: childrenssociety.
org.uk/what-we-do/our-campaigns/ac-
tion-before-crisis
3 There were 5 children for which no age was
recorded in our case management system
4 See: The UK Household Longitudinal Study
[Internet]. [accessed 2025 June 12]. Avail-
able from: understandingsociety.ac.uk/
about/about-the-study/
5 Aged 10 to 15 years
6 According to our analysis of the Under-
standing Society survey data in 2021/22.
See: The Children’s Society. The Good
Childhood Report 2024 [Internet]. 2024
[accessed 2025 June 12]. Available from:
childrenssociety.org.uk/information/
professionals/resources/good-child-
hood-report-2024
7 According to our analysis of the OECD’s
Programme for International Student
Assessment in 2022. See: The Children’s
Society. The Good Childhood Report 2024
[Internet]. 2024 [accessed 2025 June 12].
Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/
information/professionals/resources/
good-childhood-report-2024
8 ibid.
9 Holt-White, E., Latham, K., Anders, J., Culli-
nane, C., Early, E., Montacute, R., Shao, X.,
& Yarde, J. (2023). Wave 2 Initial Findings
– Mental and Physical Health. COVID Social
Mobility & Opportunities (COSMO) study
Briefing No. 1. London: UCL Centre for Edu-
cation Policy and Equalising Opportunities
& Sutton Trust. Available from: cosmos-
tudy.uk/publications/mental-and-phys-
ical-health
10 ibid. ‘High psychological distress’ was
measured as having a score of 4 or more
for the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)
12, a 12-item questionnaire used to screen
for mental disorders and to assess overall
wellbeing.
11 For example, young people who have been
exploited who used our services told us
about this when we consulted them for our
2021 report – ‘Youth voice on school ex-
clusions’ See: childrenssociety.org.uk/
information/professionals/resources/
youth-voice-on-school-exclusions
Other organisations have also highlighted
the links between school exclusion and child
exploitation. See: Just for Kids Law (2020)
Excluded, exploited, forgotten: Childhood
criminal exploitation and school exclu-
sions. Available from: justforkidslaw.org/
sites/default/files/fields/download/
JfKL%20school%20exclusion%20
and%20CCE_2.pdf
12 This number only includes children as-
sessed as being in need of children’s social
care services who had child criminal ex-
ploitation (N=15,750) or child sexual ex-
ploitation (N=13,860) identified as a factor
relevant to the assessment of need. See:
Department for Education (2024) Children
in need. Available from: explore-educa-
tion-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-sta-
tistics/children-in-need/2024
13 See: Department for Education (2024) Sus-
pensions and exclusions in schools in En-
gland statistics. Available from: explore-ed-
ucation-statistics.service.gov.uk/
find-statistics/suspensions-and-perma-
nent-exclusions-in-england/2022-23
14 ibid
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
118 119
15 Defined as children of compulsory school
age but not enrolled in any school and not
formally registered in elective home edu-
cation. See: Crenna-Jennings, W, Joseph,
A and Hutchinson, J (2024) Children miss-
ing from education: Estimates, trends and
characteristics. Available from: epi.org.
uk/publications-and-research/chil-
dren-missing-from-education/
16 An estimated 987,000 young people were
not in education, employment, or training,
in October to December 2024 (13.4% of all
people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK). See:
Oce for National Statistics (2025). Young
people not in education, employment or
training (NEET), UK: February 2025.
Available from: ons.gov.uk/employ-
mentandlabourmarket/peoplenotin-
work/unemployment/bulletins/
youngpeoplenotineducationemploy-
mentortrainingneet/february2025
17 See: Department for Education (2024)
Schools, pupils and their characteristics.
Available from: explore-education-sta-
tistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/
school-pupils-and-their-characteris-
tics/2023-24
18 ibid.
19 See: Department for Education (2024) Chil-
dren in need. Available from: explore-ed-
ucation-statistics.service.gov.uk/
find-statistics/children-in-need/2024
20 For the year ending March 2024, there were
2,312,000 victims of domestic abuse (1.6m
women and 712,000 men). 24.7% reported
living in households with children. 24.7% x
2,312,000 = 571,064. (n.b. ‘Domestic abuse’
includes a range of dierent forms – follow
the link for more information). Young people
aged 16 to 19 years were more likely than
adults of any other age to be victims of
domestic abuse – around one in 12 (8.7%)
of this age group had experienced abuse.
See: Oce for National Statistics (2024)
Domestic abuse victim characteristics, En-
gland and Wales: year ending March 2024.
Available from: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopu-
lationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/
articles/domesticabusevictimcharac-
teristicsenglandandwales/yearending-
march2024
It’s not possible to accurately assess the
number or children who have witnessed
domestic abuse because data is not collect-
ed on how many children live in each house-
hold where there has been abuse, but in
2023 the Foundations organisation (former-
ly the What Works Centre for Children and
Families) estimated that over 827,000 chil-
dren were present in the household where
there was partner abuse between adults
in the last year. See: Foundations (2023).
Available from: foundations.org.uk/
press-release/over-827000-children-
estimated-to-have-experienced-domes-
tic-abuse-this-year-with-concerns-of-
increase-at-christmas-underscoring-ur-
gent-need-for-stronger-support/
21 Defined as less than 60% of the national
median household income in the UK after
housing costs. See ”Table 4.3: Number of
children falling below various thresholds
of contemporary median income, United
Kingdom” in children-trends-hbai-1994-
95-2023-24-tables.ods downloadable
from: Department for Work and Pensions
(2025) Households below average income:
for financial years ending 1995 to 2024.
Available from: gov.uk/government/
statistics/households-below-average-
income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-
to-2024
22 Defined as less than 60% of the national
median household income after housing
costs that extends for at least 3 out of 4
years. See: Department for Work and Pen-
sions (2025) Income Dynamics: Income
movements and the persistence of low
income, 2010 to 2023. Available from: gov.
uk/government/statistics/income-dy-
namics-2010-to-2023/income-dynam-
ics-income-movements-and-the-persis-
tence-of-low-income-2010-to-2023
23 These include services that ended during
this period and new ones that started.
24 While our figure for 2024/25 is lower than
the previous year, this is because young
people have required more intense support
from our practitioners. Our highly skilled
practitioners work in person-centred and
flexible ways to ensure that support needs
are properly understood and responded to.
As is the nature of funding within the charity
sector, we have also seen some of our ser-
vices and programmes come to an end. We
will continue to work in response to what
children, young people and their families
need.
25 This figure describes the number of attend-
ees at events, so may include duplicate
children or young people if they attended
more than one event.
26 MyWheel is used at regular intervals, when
young people are supported by practi-
tioners to score themselves (between 1 and
5) in the following domains: safety, hopes
and dreams, where I live, having a say,
employment, education and skills, family
and carer support, friends, physical health,
mental and emotional health).
27 Total Youth Voice activities comprises all
the participation opportunities that young
people have taken part in. ‘One-to-one
and one-o opportunities’ mainly includes
storytelling and video work, content cre-
ation to amplify youth voices, one-o
consultations and workshops; ‘service-led
participation groups’ are groups for young
people accessing specific local services
that identify issues and develop ideas to
improve the service; ‘functional groups’ are
groups led by our Youth Voice team, who
perform an organisational function, such as
young trustees; and ‘thematic participation
groups’ are groups largely led by policy and
advocacy teams. These figures are collated
monthly from across the organisation, by
our Youth Voice team.
28 This figure describes the number of attend-
ees at events, so may include duplicate
children or young people if they attended
more than one event.
29 The GBO compares how far a child or
young person feels they have moved to-
wards reaching a goal that they have set
for themselves at the beginning of an inter-
vention, on a scale between 0 and 10. See:
corc.uk.net/outcome-measures-guid-
ance/directory-of-outcome-mea-
sures/goal-based-outcomes-gbo/ and
goals-in-therapy.com/the-gbo-tool
30 Irvin Yalom is an American psychologist
whose writing is renowned for its accessibil-
ity, poetic beauty and ability to capture the
depth of the human experience - of life, love
and relationships. See: yalom.com/
31 See: Children at the Table (2024) Im-
pact Report. Available from: childrenat-
thetable.org.uk/impact-report-2024/
32 The Crisis Support Working Group was es-
tablished by The Children’s Society, bring-
ing like-minded, influential organisations
together to collectively plan and call for
action on emergency financial support for
families in England.
33 See: committees.parliament.uk/
event/23103/formal-meeting/
34 Total supporters includes everyone who
has given their time, money, and voice to
support The Children’s Society between
1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025. ‘Time’
relates to actions that involve giving up time
or volunteering (for example, our house
box coordinators, speakers, volunteers,
fundraising committee members); ‘money’
refers to any donations received; and ‘voice’
refers to active support for campaigns or
petitions. Note that the total supporter fig-
ure is less than the sum of time, money, and
voice, as supporters can appear in more
than one category. The figures are extract-
ed from our Microsoft Dynamics database.
The Children’s Society Our impact 2024/25
120 121
35 For more detailed information on
volunteering figures specifically, please see
the “Our People” section on page 55.
36 ‘Potential opportunities to view’ refers to
the number of opportunities for a particular
audience to see or hear a news piece.
We use media monitoring and reporting
software to track our media performance.
This software tracks the number of
mentions in the press of particular stories,
removing any duplicate pieces, and uses
known figures on the potential reach of a
publication or radio station to calculate total
potential opportunities to view.
37 See: bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/grants/
the-work-we-do/our-focussed-funding/
a-million-and-me/
38 Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer +
39 ’TCS Live’ is our monthly all-sta webinar
brings our community together, with
the executive leadership team hosting
inspiring sessions that spotlight the voices,
stories, and contributions of colleagues
and volunteers from across The Children’s
Society.
“We wi continue t sprea
The Children’s Society’s meage
f hope, showing young people
they’re nt alone an there’s light
at the en f the tuel”
Young trustees
Our impact 2024/25
123
The Children’s Society
122
© The Children’s Society 2025. The copyright of all material appearing in this
publication belongs to The Children’s Society. It may not be reproduced,
duplicated or copied by any means without our prior written consent.
Charity Registration No. 221124 Photos: Chris O’Donovan, Francis Augusto,
Ieva Umbrasaite, Laura McClusky. OB153/0725.
Every young person has the right
to be safe, happy, and hopeful
about their future.
That’s why we run services and
campaigns to help children
transform their lives and to change
the systems that are putting young
people in danger. Together, we can
protect every childhood.
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