Our impact

We’re here to make children and young people:

• Safer, so children at risk of harm are better protected. This might be measured by practitioners recording a reduction in family conflict.
• Happier, so children struggling with their wellbeing can access support and feel they belong. This might be measured by children telling us they feel more satisfied.
• Healthier, so children growing up with disadvantage can experience good physical and mental health. This might be measured by a clinical improvement in anxiety.
• More hopeful, so children experiencing challenges can move into adulthood with hope and confidence. This might be measured by children telling us they feel motivated and inspired.

We try and do this by:

• Running excellent, inclusive services that improve the lives of children and young people.
• Improving practice, policy–making and systems so that they really work for all children and young people.
• Driving change in attitudes towards childhood, working closely with partners and supporters.

In 2023-24 we:

• Reached 356,200 children, young people, parents and carers through our services and partnerships.
• Ran 760 services across the UK.
• Were supported by 17,300 volunteers who gave an amazing 1.8m hours of their time to help us support even more children, young people and their families.
• Raised £93.1m through sales and donations of pre-loved good from our 591 shops and superstores across the UK.
• Fundraised £41.7m thanks to our incredible supporters. Your support allows us to invest in our vital work changing children’s lives for the better – thank you.

More than one in four children in the UK live in poverty (Department for Work and Pensions, 2004), that’s nine in every classroom, because too many families are struggling to make ends meet. In response to the cost-of-living crisis, in October 2022, we established a fund to provide immediate support to children and families who were struggling to afford the basics. In 2023–2024, we spent around £1m providing this essential support, reaching 15,592 people.

We continued to focus on child poverty and bring the views and experiences of children and young people to the attention of decision makers and the public through key policy reports including our No Crib for a Bed report, which shone a new light on bed poverty, and our No Bank of Mum and Dad research, which explored the impact of high and rising prices across many living costs on care leavers.

Our brilliant volunteers continued to play a vital role in helping us change childhoods and change lives, with 17,530 people contributing 1.8 million hours of their time to us. Find out more about volunteering with us.​

We’re committed to reducing our environmental footprint to help preserve the planet for the children and young people across the UK. We know that climate change is one of the most fundamental concerns for the young people we support and they expect us to take action.

Our vision is to drive significant and positive changes, ultimately enabling us to reach our ambition of becoming Net Zero by 2050 or earlier. We have committed to reducing our environmental impact through:   

• Sustainable working practices and behaviours.
• Proactive measures to reduce our environmental footprint. 
• Responsible and sustainable stewardship in everything we do.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, we take 2019-20 as a baseline for our reporting. Between 2019-20 and 2022-24 our carbon emissions from:

• Gas and other fuels reduced by 19%.
• Electricity reduced by 45%. 
• Transport reduced by 41%.​​

Read more about our commitment to sustainability ​​​​​

*Names have been changed and models used to protect people's identities