Barnardo's
Barnardo’s is a charity which has been changing childhoods and lives for over 150 years.
They make sure children and young people feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful, by running over 800 specialist services across the UK, and campaign to change the way the system works for the better.
Throughout her CHOOSE HOUSING campaign, Elly Hoult will be fundraising for Barnardo's. Please visit the dedicated JustGiving page if you would like to donate to the presidential appeal.
In 1867 Thomas John Barnardo set up a ‘ragged school’ where children could get a free basic education. One of the boys at the school, Jim Jarvis, opened Barnardo’s eyes to the hardship being faced by children around the East End, where children went to sleep on roofs and in gutters. What he saw affected him so deeply, he gave up on his medical training to focus all his energy on helping children living in poverty.
In 1870, Barnardo opened his first home for boys where the boys were able to live and learn carpentry, metalwork, and shoemaking, and get help getting into apprenticeships.
In 1873, Barnardo married Syrie Louise Elmslie, who would end up playing a very important role in their development as a charity. As a wedding present, they were given a lease on a 60-acre site in Barkingside, east London, where the couple opened a home for girls.
World War II was a turning point in Barnardo’s development and in the history of childcare in the UK. The disruption brought by the war caused a lot of harm on children who ended up separated from their families. As a result, Barnardo’s began working more closely with families.
In the 1960s single parenthood was more acceptable, contraception was more widely available, and a growing welfare system meant that fewer families needed to put their children into care.
That meant that the need for children’s homes was decreasing, so Barnardo's began to focus less on residential services and more on working with families and children with disabilities and emotional or behavioural difficulties.
Barnardo's celebrated their 150th anniversary in 2016. If you would like to know more about how Barnardo's continues to change lives today, check out their annual report.
