The Children's Foundation
Why was the charity formed?
The Children’s Foundation was founded in 1990s in response to a government report called ‘The Heath of the Nation’ which highlighted that health outcomes for children in the North East were the worst in the country. The charity was founded with the vision of giving our children and young people in the region the best health and well-being services in the UK. This included the Yellow Brick Road Appeal which raised £12 million to build the Sir James Spence Institute of Child Heath, where our office is still based today, to house academics from local universities, professors and doctors in order to research and address child ill-health in the region and reverse the trend highlighted in the report.
Which area do you cover?
We are, and always will be, a charity for the North East, in the North East. In our history we have funded projects as far west as North Cumbria but in recent years we have consolidated our efforts to directly deliver our projects and services in Newcastle, Northumberland, Durham, Sunderland and Gateshead.
What type of fundraising events do you have?
As with a lot of charities in the region or biggest fundraising event of the year is the Great North Run, however this is only successful for us if we get runners to fill all 35 spots that we have paid for (we currently have 20 spaces left to fill if you are looking for a challenge this year!).
We also run an exciting fundraising event with the business students at Sunderland University called Take 25. This fundraising challenge is on the curriculum and each student is given £25, sponsored by our friends at Enterprise, and 6 weeks to turn it into as much money as possible. In 2022 this event alone raised over £7000 for the charity and gave future business leaders in the region a chance to practice their entrepreneurial skills and get out and learning in the real world.
What have been your proudest moments so far?
Developing and launching our three-year strategy with a focus on early years, children’s mental health and physical health was a huge achievement. The strategy focuses on early intervention and prevention and gives us a unique focus, renewed energy and new direction at a time when the charity was at a bit of a crossroads. We were founded to address the needs of children in the 1990s in the region and this new strategy repositions our efforts to address the needs of regional children today.
Personally I am incredibly proud of the team that we have built, from specific project leads to youth workers out working in communities. We are building on the legacy of the Yellow Brick Road and still launching projects locally here in the north east that are of national importance; projects like the Baby Box campaign which launched in the region in February this year and is already getting national attention and praise.
What are you currently working on?
The latest project that we have been working on is the Baby Box campaign which launched earlier this year which has the aim of giving every first time parent and their baby in the region the best start possible.
The Baby Box campaign comes at a time when more families than ever need our support and it has been designed to level the playing field when it comes to child development in our region and give newborn babies in vulnerable families the best start in life – raising the aspirations in the North East and creating a future of happy, resilient and creative community.
What does the future hold?
I wish I had a crystal ball as it is a difficult climate to plan and fundraise in. As a charity we have plans to grow our team and our revenue and are working towards establishing a high-street presence in the coming years which would be a big step for us and allow us to be more resilient and generate higher incomes through our trading arm. The challenge is going to be how we mainstream our projects and pass the batons on to health and statutory services in a highly uncertain economic and political environment.
Ultimately we will continue to be a regional charity receiving national recognition and creating environments that allow children to grow up valued, healthy, happy and loved.
How do you get involved?
The best way to get involved is to come in for a chat and a cuppa. We make good coffee and always have a supply of the best biscuits in the office. We want to form real, human relationships with businesses and chat about how we can get you involved with the charity and have a mutually beneficial, meaningful relationship.
To get in touch give us a call on 0191 282 0000 or email hello@thechildrensfoundation.co.uk