Children's Charities: the big players

The most important things:

• The NSPCC does what it says on the tin: it tries to stop cruelty to children. It's funded mostly by donations from the public.
• NCH is massive, gets most of its money from government, and offers a vast array of services to help disadvantaged children.

• Barnardo's is a bit smaller than NCH, gets most of its money from government, and offers a range of projects to help vulnerable children and young people.
• The Children's Society is linked to the Church of England, and has a bishop as its boss. But it doesn't evangelize or discriminate against children on religious grounds. It's tiny compared to the other organizations (expenditure in 2005 was £37m, compared to £202m for NCH), and helps a relatively small number of at-risk children and young people.

You might like to know:

• NCH and Barnardo's do similar work. They want to help disadvantaged, poor, vulnerable and disabled children. They want to give them a way of life that's free from crime and deprivation. They want to offer them opportunities to lead full lives. And they want to make sure that young people who've got into bad habits don't get stuck in them.
• The NSPCC has a much narrower focus. It runs the advice-service Childline, and a similar facility for worried adults. It also employs a number of people to support children who've been the victim of cruelty.
• The Children's Society deals with specific groups of at-risk children and young people. These are: children at risk on the streets; disabled children; and young refugees.
• All of these charities campaign for change and lobby the government.