Our vision
Together we can create a world that loves all children unconditionally and where children are free to be children. A world where:
- Together we ensure that all children can be heard, understood and loved
- Together we understand that a better world for children is a better world for all
- Children on the journey from childhood to adulthood have a safe place when they need one, are allowed to learn from their mistakes, have space to dream and play, and can express themselves fully while finding their way in the world.
Our mission
We look at the world through the eyes of children and never flinch from what we see. When society sticks labels on children, we seek to understand what is bottled up inside. Through that understanding we work with children to imagine, explore and identify the most effective ways to meet their needs. We cannot help every child, so we focus on those who are most in need. By hearing them and helping them, we create positive change for many more.
Our values
Our Christian values drive the work of The Children’s Society and are our motivation for working with children and young people.
We understand our Christian mission in terms of changing the society in which we live so that it models the values of the re-ordered world of the Kingdom of God. These values are love, justice and forgiveness. The greatest of these is love.
Love
Love is the obligation to care for the wellbeing of others, respect human dignity and put the needs of others before our own.
- We have an obligation to ensure every child has a good childhood, as a person in their own right with rights
- We care about our supporters, volunteers and staff and the impact that our activities have on them
- We seek to build a world where every child has a place at its centre not on its margins
Justice
Justice is love in action – putting right what is wrong in personal, social and public affairs.
- We listen and act upon the voice of the child helping them to find their own solutions so that a good childhood becomes a right and not a privilege
- We actively seek out and embrace the richness that each person brings to our work, rejecting the things that diminish their contribution in any way
- We seek to build a world where resources and power are distributed to the benefit of those denied a good childhood
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the casting aside of the barriers to love. It is the discounting of all things that come between people, restoring and reconciling relationships.
- We work to ensure that no child is disqualified from a good childhood
- We do not allow our own or others’ differences of opinion, shortcomings or mistakes to come between us and those with whom we work
- We seek to build a world where every child is allowed the freedom to explore, to make mistakes and to grow
Working with children and young people
Our partnership with the Church of England