Our history

The Children’s Society began in 1881 because one man, Edward Rudolf, was angry with the conditions faced by children in London. Living in poverty, suffering with hunger and malnutrition, families struggling to get by.  

But he had hope that things could be better. He turned that hope into action and dedicated his life to young people.  

During World War II we housed Jewish children from Germany and Czechoslovakia, who were seeking asylum from Nazi persecution. This is an early example of our work with asylum seekers. 

In the 60's and 70's knowledge of attachment theory grew, attitudes began to change, and local social services became more involved in adoption, meaning fewer young people were living in children’s homes. We began closing ours and, instead, opened daycare centres. These supported single-parent families and those affected by illness, stress or severe poverty.  

We also began to focus on giving young people the tools and support they need to solve their problems. 

Our centenary decade was a big one. We opened 12 new family centres as well as toy libraries and soft play areas. We also set up information centres to help families with welfare rights, and an innovative service in Essex, supporting young people who had problems with substance abuse. 

In 1986, Community and Diocesan Development teams formed to help identify local problems and solutions. 

And in 1989, we called on the public to join us through our first TV adverts. 

We started campaigning for widespread change.  

From 1992, we argued that child prostitution should be seen as a child protection issue, helping change police guidance in 2000 so young people were treated as abuse victims rather than criminals. 

We also began asking young people directly about their lives. Our Still Running research programme with the University of York surveyed tens of thousands of pupils about whether they had run away from home. Over the next 12 years, we explored why they ran away and the harms they experienced. 

In 1999, we established the first young carers project in the country.  

In 2000, we launched the annual Young Carers Festival – the world’s largest gathering of young people with caring responsibilities.  

From 2005, we began our ground-breaking initiative to understand children and young people’s wellbeing, through our Good Childhood research programme. It now spans more than 20 years of research and the involvement of 70,000 young people.  

Feeding into our annual Good Childhood Report, the programme has made a significant contribution to international work on wellbeing, as well as reinforcing our concerns about the challenges that many teenagers face.   

Our robust research led to campaigns that changed millions of young lives.  

Make Runaways Safe saw more than 40 local authorities commit to change. Now all councils have to offer young people return home interviews after they have gone missing, ensuring they get the support they need.  

Fair and Square successfully called for the extension of free school meals to all young people living in poverty, giving an extra 1.4 million at least one nutritious meal each school day. 

Behind Cold Doors exposed nearly 2 million young people living in poverty missing out on gas and electricity discounts. This led standardised eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount, making support easier to access. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of our services continued to support young people when they needed it most. 

We also launched our #LookCloser campaign with the British Transport Police and National County Lines Coordination Centre to raise awareness of child exploitation. 

After a seven-year campaign started by young people in 2014, the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021 passed. Now, schools in England must make uniforms more affordable. 

We’ve continued calling for every child who needs them to get free school meals. Thanks to this, the government extended them in 2022 to young people in low-income migrant families with NRPF (No Recourse to Public Funds). No child should go hungry because of their parents’ immigration status.  

Research from our Good Childhood research programme and published in our annual Good Childhood Report found that the UK’s teenagers are the unhappiest in Europe. So, taking this lead, we stepped up our work to support them.  

We opened our first Time for young people early support service, in Newham, London. These are spaces where young people can pause, breathe, and find support when life gets too much. 

Together with thousands of young carers, we celebrated 25 years of the Young Carers Festival at YMCA Fairthorne Manor. That’s 25 years of teens getting a break from their responsibilities somewhere they can have fun and make new friends. 

Another campaign win: as part of the End Child Poverty coalition, we called on the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit, which pushed 100 children a day into poverty. In March 2026, the legislation to remove it became law.  

Two of our services celebrated milestones: 35 years of Missing from Home in Manchester and 10 years of Pause in Birmingham. Both offer vital support to young people, whether they’ve gone missing from home or are struggling with their wellbeing. 

We continued raising awareness of our work with a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, designed by Patrick Clarke with help from young people. It put the spotlight on the urgent issue of teen wellbeing in the UK and won a gold medal. It has since been transported to our youth club in Leighton Buzzard, where young people can enjoy it.  

We support more teens than any other charity in the UK, because teenhood today is tougher than ever. During this formative time, teens are experiencing poverty, exploitation and abuse. They’re struggling with their mental health, being let down by failing systems, and missing trusted role models. So, in 2026, we launched our biggest campaign ever – our mission to Save Teenhood.  

We’re opening more drop-in centres, providing lasting support, and championing change on a national scale. And we’re continuing to make sure teens’ voices are heard on the issues that matter to them.  

We’re still angry. We still have hope. 

Join us today to Save Teenhood.