The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

The Children’s Society AGM and
50th Anniversary of Christingle

I attended the AGM of the Society on November 6th. It will be my last, as a Resolution was passed to make Members like me (average age 78) Honorary Lifetime Members, with no vote and no attendance at Trustees’ meetings. This is line with recommendations from the Charity Commission, as more than one major charity has been exposed as having governance failures. The Board of the Children’s Society has had an external governance review. It was rated as ‘strong overall’, but the ability of trustees such as me was questioned. For one thing, it is difficult for staff to know whether some Members have died or moved into care homes!

We were welcomed by the Chairman, Janet Legrand QC (Hon), who told us how the Society works to support young people and secure changes so that the most vulnerable in our country have the chance to thrive.

One case study is an orphan refugee from Palestine who is called Samir, for this account. When he first approached the Society’s Hub in London, he was homeless and destitute. One of the practitioners supported him for 18 months to get him safe housing, ‘stateless’ status in the UK with 3 years leave to Remain (later), social care support, and to get him back into college and some wellbeing work. He recently dropped into the Hub with a specially decorated cake for his caseworker and the Society as a whole. Even though the Society had to hand over some of the work to some community care, he said that the resilience work he did with the Society has helped him to cope with all the changes in his life. There are other case studies on the Children’s Society Website.

Although the logo just says The Children’s Society, often accompanied with the words ‘No Child should feel alone’, the registered company is The Church of England Children’s Society. The Society helps children and young people of all faiths and none, but it is not likely that they would get enough support from people who have no connection to a parish church or Cathedral. childrenssociety.org.uk

The Society has cut their costs by selling their London properties, losing staff, and adopting a new model of working after having a review and getting a new IT supplier. They have four new Trustees who are eager to use their extensive experience in digital media, marketing, commercial strategy, and HR skills to benefit the work of the Society. With their help, it is hoped to increase activities with young people. There is less money from central and local government, but the need is greater than ever. One speaker said ’this charity goes wither others fear to tread’.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Society’s Christingle services, the first one having been held in Lincoln Cathedral. There is a new song to download (vimeo.com/295795676)  and support by celebrities. On December 2nd, the Archbishop of Canterbury is to appear on Songs of Praise wearing a Children’s Society apron, making a cake, and reminiscing about a very sad Christmas in his past. It connects him to some of the children who will get one present, thanks to Christingle collections. Recently, the Society has got companies and others to help get one present which the child has requested, rather than a lucky dip type of distribution. We were told that the reaction of the kids is truly amazing.

There is a lot more that I could tell you about the reports and presentations. I will look at the website more often, and perhaps report from a Supporters’ event in the future.
Thank you in advance for the collection from Christmas Lights.