Thomas Barnardo died in 1905, and had already founded and ran 96 homes caring for more than 8,500 children. Each child that walked through the doors was given a good start in life – a start in life that Barnardo believed and felt strongly about.
Between the 1940’s and the 1950’s, Barnardo’s began working a lot more closely with families. The charity began awarding grants to families that were in some difficulty because the ‘breadwinner’ was unable to work as a direct result of an accident or of illness. By the end of the 1900’s almost a quarter of Barnardo’s work meant that they wee involved with helping children to stay with their own families.
The 1960’s were a time of radical change for Barnardo's and had a large impact upon the way in which they worked with children. Single parenthood was becoming a lot more acceptable; this was with a greater use of contraception and this meant that there were fewer unwanted children. This therefore meant that improved social security benefits meant that it was no longer necessary for parents to hand over their children to Barnardo's because they could not afford to care for them. Such developments and the changes in legislation meant that the number of children received by Barnardo's was decreasing and so a commitment was made to cut down on residential services. They set out to develop new work with disabled children and those with emotional and behavioural problems. To reflect upon this, the charity changed its name in 1966 from Dr Barnardo's Homes to Dr Barnardo's. By the end of the 1900’s plans were made to close down large numbers of homes and to convert them into specialist units for many children that needed it.
In 1988 the organisation of Barnardo’s changed its name from Dr Barnardo's to Barnardo's to reflect the contrast within the Victorian past. The last traditional-style home of Barnardo’s closed in 1989.
From the 1970’ss onwards, Barnardo's continued to expand their work into fostering and adoption. As a result of this family centres were set up in communities to support families in deprived areas, families that were disadvantaged. They set out to help families facing problems such as unemployment, poor health, bad housing and poverty, with the aim of defusing the stress and tension that might lead to family breakdown and more so, child abuse.
Barnardo's stopped running homes for orphans and children in poverty over 30 years ago now. The work of Barnardo’s today is based upon the same set of values that Barnardo's was founded on in 1866. Since then the services that have been provided have changed and they will continue to do so, but their aim is to help children and young people with the greatest need, and this stays the same. Barnardo’s is very proud of their past, but what concerns them most is children today and the future that they may hold.
Barnardo’s run across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Every service is different but each has the same goal - to help disadvantaged children reach their full potential, the full potential that they all deserve. Barnardo’s helps them to overcome challenging experiences and to tackle the effects of disadvantage, as well as to help them develop into well-rounded adults. Barnardo’s calls this 'giving children back their future'.
Children only get one chance at childhood and it is Barnardo’s that helps them to have this and to the full. Barnardo's makes sure that they can make the most of it, whatever their circumstances, background or experiences.
Barnardo’s Aims
At Barnardo's, everything that they do - whether in the home, school or local community - is influenced by a set of principles and values, otherwise known as their aims. Such aims are as important to Barnardo’s today as they were when Barnardo's was first founded in 1866.
- To respect the unique worth of every person – Barnardo’s believes that every person is different but equal at the same time, and that everyone's unique talent should be recognised and encouraged for exactly who they are.
- To encourage people to fulfil their full potential – each and every person needs encouragement at some time in their life. Barnardo's aims to create opportunities for people to make the most of their abilities and qualities that each person holds.
- To work with hope – Barnardo’s hope for a better future for all children and it is this that is the source of much of their inspiration.
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To exercise responsible stewardship - the commitment of all staff of Barnardo’s and volunteers to making the best use of all of their resources enables them to help children, young people and their families to overcome severe disadvantage.
Barnardo's is committed to providing equality of opportunity for the children, young people, families and carers with whom they all work. They value and respect their diversity and any differences that they hold amongst each other.
Barnardo's welcomes differences between all staff and volunteers. In accordance with the Basis and Values, Barnardo's is working to create equal access to opportunities for paid employment and voluntary involvement while continuing to base such selection and promotion solely on ability to meet the requirements of the post. This is regardless of race, colour, ethnic or national origins, religion, disability, gender, sexuality, age, marital status, responsibility for dependants, economic status or any political values that they may hold.
Barnardo's is committed to taking active steps to address and eliminate unfair or unlawful discrimination or prejudice where these are identified in the organisation's procedures or practices. They work with and towards such aims and values to ensure that all children have the same opportunities and that they are not recognised for any differences that they may hold.
Funding
It takes a total of £93 million a year to keep Barnardo’s up and running. This covers all of the work that Barnardo’s does and work towards across the whole of the UK. It takes a total of £262,088 to run Barnardo’s for a day.
Barnardo’s’ receives about £65 million every year from local authorities for working in partnership with them to provide services within that particular area. This often includes short-term break care for disabled children and for fostering and adoption services. Barnardo’s raises approximately £67 million each year through fundraising and a lot of retail activity. Barnardo’s runs a lot of events that raises money and works with schools closely to provide them with the services that they need. Barnardo’s also generates a further £10 million through a vast range of investments and sales, as well as the development of properties. Barnardo’s raises an average of £215 a day through the gifts and accessories that they sell in their shops worldwide.
Barnardos’ spends a lot of money helping individual children. However, the cost of helping one child or young person depends largely upon how Barnardo’s is helping them. Barnardo’s works with children for both long and short periods and it is this that largely depends upon the amount of money that is spent. The average cost of helping an individual person for about a year is about £2,300.
An entire campaign costs Barnardo’s as an average of £1.2 million. This is therefore less than 1% annual turnover and is therefore a fraction compared to similar organisations advertising activities. Their budget was stretched considerably as a result of the reduction of costs throughout the development of each campaign.
Influences upon the Government
The Charities Commission and legislation relating to charities prohibit Barnardo’s from being political. This therefore means that Barnardo’s does not support one political party over another. Barnardo’s works with all Members of Parliament and all political parties in order to make them more aware of key issues impacting upon all children and young people.
Barnardo’s works with Members of Parliament to advise them and to help them fully understand the key issues, which are the key issues in the eyes of the children and young people today. Barnardo’s goes to all of the political party conferences to speak to Members of Parliament and to write to them on a regular basis to inform them of current issues and trends.
All National Standards within each local area of childcare are set down and outlined by the Government and Barnardo’s also has its own set of care standards, which enhance further points. Barnardo’s staff also work to their own code of practice that they call their . These are integrated into every aspect of their work and influence the way in which they work with the Government.
It has be known for Barnardo’s to encourage a Member of Parliament to sponsor an Early Day Motion about an issue that other Members of Parliament can sign. Linda Perham MP recently sponsored an Early Day Motion about the National Policing Plan. The reason being that Barnardo’s felt that it does not do enough to help children that have been abused through prostitution. 227 Members of Parliament signed this Early Day Motion and this therefore meant that Barnardo’s was able to take such support from the Government to set up meetings and to work towards changing the current plan.
Barnardo’s has recently started campaigning through e-mail. This is done by Barnardo’s asking all supporters to e-mail their local Member of Parliament about an issue that they feel strongly about. The idea of this is to ensure that Member of Parliament are aware of the issues that are of concern today and so that Barnardo’s can closely work alongside the Government. They want to be able to work with different levels of Government to over-come issues of concern and to improve the lives of children and young people today. Barnardo’s wants to be able to improve the future for children and young people today and to give each and every child and young person the best possible start in life. They aim to work with the Government in such ways to be able to work towards and to achieve this.
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Barnardo’s has a group of 19 trustees in total, who help Barnardo’s to run the organisation and to check that what they are doing is right for the organisation and in respect to government guidelines. Such volunteers comprise of individuals with a lot of different experiences of running organisations, working in the voluntary sector and working with children and young people. These individuals ensure that large decisions made about the organisation are made by a body of people rather than one single individual.
Also, Barnardo’s and all other charities in England and Wales are subject to external inspection by the . The and the perform the same roles in the rest of the UK. Such statutory organisations regulate charities. They seek to ensure that charities operate within a framework that enables them to work effectively and efficiently for the purposes for which they were set up to. Each year they monitor all charities with an income of over £10,000 a year and these charities including Barnardo’s are legally obliged to send all their annual accounts and a report of their activities. This encourages good management, makes charities open and accountable and allows Barnardo’s to oversee their activities.
Barnardo’s work with children and young people are also subject to inspections by:
- The National Care Standards Commission in England. This is a new government department incorporating the social services inspectorate, NHS care and local authorities.
- Care Standards Inspectorate Wales
- Ofsted
Barnardo’s accounts are also looked at by:
- The Audit Commission
- Health and Safety Executive
- Environmental Health