This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

impact

e. e one constant th “ e. f lways be n there li a e h h T y

Naomi

The young people’s stories featured in this report are true but names and identifying details have been changed to protect them. All photographs have been posed by models and for project case studies are illustrative only.

Our impact 2@2-

The Children’s Society

nts
Chair’s introduction	6
CEO’s introduction	8
Our year in review	10
1. Our mission, vision, and values	14
2. Our impact and achievements	16
2.1. How we delivered our objectives	18
2.2. The areas of work we prioritise and why	23
2.3. Emotional health and wellbeing	25
2.3.1. Tailoring our wellbeing interventions to
the needs of young people	28
2.3.2. Supporting children who have experienced
abuse or trauma	32
2.3.3. Making sure young carers’ voices are heard	34
2.4. Risk and vulnerability	36
2.4.1. Protecting children from exploitation	38
2.4.2. Improving support for children who go missing
from home or care	44
2.5 Child poverty	46
2.5.1 Supporting families through the cost of living crisis	48
2.5.2 Advocating for refugee and migrant children	51
3. Our future plans	55
4. Financial review	59
4.1 Income	60
4.2 Expenditure	60
4.3 Fixed assets	61
4.4 Investments	61
4.5 Cash and working capital	62
4.6 Reserves	62

Our impact 2022/23

5. Governance structure and management	64
5.1 Legal status and objectives	64
5.2 Public beneft	64
5.3 Governance and management	64
5.4 Delegation and committees	67
5.5 Modern slavery	67
5.6 Principal risks and uncertainties	68
5.7 Our people	70
5.8 Supporter engagement and fundraising	72
5.9 General Data Protection Regulation	73
6. Protecting the environment	74
7. Statement of responsibilities	77
8. Independent auditor’s report	78
9. Financial statements	82
10. Notes to the accounts	87
11. Corporate information	112
12. Endnotes	116

The Children’s Society

Chair’s introduction

I am delighted to introduce our impact summary and annual report for 2023.

The Children’s Society has come through the very difficult pandemic in a strong position. Financially, with healthy reserves which allow us to invest, grow, and do even more. Strategically, with a new clarity of mission and focus. And organisationally, with a structure designed to promote working together and learning from one other. This is a testament to the whole team and our determination to achieve our mission, regardless of how daunting the headwinds are. And the headwinds continue, albeit in different forms. The cost of living crisis has made life harder for many of the families and young people that need us. This is especially tough coming so soon after the unique demands made by Covid-19.

I have joined an organisation doing such important work with courage and empathy for young people. Through our direct support work with young people in crisis, grounded in our philosophy to listen to the young person, we take the time to understand the full context of their lives, and tailor the support to that individual, for as long as they need it. And our early intervention work helps to alleviate issues faced by young people before these get worse and they reach crisis point.

Alongside this, we inform and train professionals and those close to young people, helping them to identify the signs of low wellbeing or crisis and respond appropriately, so that the whole system that young people engage with is improved. And we call on those in positions of power to redesign legislation, systems, and processes to become more child-centred.

All of this work moves us towards our 2030 goal. The Children’s Society has taken on the mission of turning around the decline in young people’s wellbeing in the UK by 2030. Our crisis work gives us a deep understanding of the pathways that lead to trauma. This informs the early intervention work. Both allow The Children’s Society to give the best guidance to others. And finally, all elements give The Children’s Society both the credibility and knowledge to influence national and local government for the changes we want to see. Throughout this report, you will read inspiring examples of all of this work.

No family, regardless of their means, is unaware of the pressures that young people face today. This should be a concern for everyone. And despite the significant increase in teenagers needing help, there is a huge shortfall in services provided, with waiting periods of months and even years for first appointments. The Children’s Society is more needed than ever.

Our impact 2022/23

The next few years offer a real opportunity for us to do even more. To help more young people hold onto hope, to prevent early signs of distress from getting worse, to work with many more professionals, and to push hard for a country that provides more protection and support as young people navigate their teenage years. We are up for the challenge.

There are many people to thank for the work that is showcased in this report. Firstly, Janet Legrand who has done so much over the past few years as chair of trustees and who was immensely generous in her handover of this role. My fellow trustees, who give their time and wisdom tirelessly because of their belief in the mission. And every single one of our supporters who give their time, money, and voice to advance our work. I also applaud all those who work and volunteer for The Children’s Society. Day in and day out, they are dedicated to the cause of helping young people look forward to their futures with hope. But most of all I want to say thank you to the young people whose voices and stories inspire us constantly to do more and to do it better, so that they and all young people in the UK may flourish.

Diana Noble Chair of the board of trustees

The Children’s Society

CEO’s introduction

The past few years have been difficult for many of us, and especially for our young people. As we deal with the impacts of the pandemic and face the new challenges brought about by the cost of living crisis, The Children’s Society has continued to fight alongside children for a brighter future. This report shows the incredible creativity, inspiration, and commitment TeamTCS has brought to this fight in the last year to make sure we can be here for every child that needs us.

The Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Report 2022 demonstrated that life is still getting harder for children – shockingly, 11% of children in the UK have low wellbeing.[1] And the cost of living crisis has put families under yet more pressure, making it even more difficult for young people to thrive. More than 1 in 4 children in the UK are living in poverty[2] and thousands are facing huge challenges like exploitation, abuse, and neglect. This simply isn’t right. Children are some of the most vulnerable members of our society, and teenagers in particular are at significant risk of harm. Teenagers are still children, and every one of them deserves our support.

As Diana mentioned, our goal is ambitious – by 2030, we will have overturned the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing, setting a path for long-lasting growth. Over the past year, we have honed our strategy and strengthened our organisation, with our five organisation-wide objectives guiding our decisions as we build the foundations needed to realise our ambitions. We are now in an exciting

phase of planning to grow our income and impact and our trustees have been strengthening our balance sheet to enable us to move forward with confidence. We know that with young people, our supporters, and TeamTCS, we can build a society that works for every child.

Across the country, our youth impact teams have supported 63,779 young people directly, through 73 different services. Our amazing teams help children when they’re facing huge challenges like abuse, neglect, or exploitation, when they’re struggling with their mental health or low wellbeing, and so much more. And our child-centred approach means that young people get the support that’s right for them, helping them to transform their lives.

We learn so much from this direct practice and from the stories and voices of the young people we meet – and this makes it possible for us to prevent other children from facing the same challenges. In 2022/23, our prevention and systems change work reached new heights, impacting an estimated 863,555 young people.

Our campaigning and political advocacy work is making a real difference too. Grounded in the experiences of young people and what they have told us they need, we have continued to push for a brighter future. In a year of considerable political upheaval, it has been particularly challenging to influence for change but we have seen significant successes in spite of this. We lobbied for statutory guidance to recognise teenage relationship abuse for the first time, and our

Our impact 2022/23

Strengthen the Safety Net campaign helped to make an additional £1.5 billion available to low income families through the Household Support Fund. We’re so proud to have been part of these campaigns and others like them, building a world that protects children and their families.

This work is made possible by the dedication and passion of thousands of incredible people across the country. Our team of staff and volunteers, whose commitment to fighting for change is inspirational. Our supporters, whose generosity and enthusiasm in standing alongside young people allow us to be here for children when they need us. And young people themselves, whose hope, voices, and needs inform all that we do. I am so grateful, to each and every one of these people.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to Janet Legrand, who stepped down as chair of our board of trustees this year, and to Diana Noble, who has taken on this role. I am grateful for the continued trust and support of the board as a whole – their insight, commitment, and guidance this year,

and particularly during the transition process between chairs, have been invaluable. I look forward to all that we will achieve together in the coming years.

The challenges facing young people have grown hugely in recent years, and 2030 draws ever closer. There is a great deal of work to be done but together, we are a powerful force for change. I hope you will continue to stand with us and with young people as we build a society that works for all children.

Mark Russell Chief Executive

The Children’s Society

Our year in review, 2022/23

Working with young people

----- Start of picture text -----
Figure 1. Number of 63,779 young people directly
young people worked
worked with (compared with a
with directly.
total of 55,494 worked with in
70
2021/22). This includes:
60
50 9,438 young people
40 supported through one-to-
30 55,494 63,779 one and small group work.
20 54,341 young people
10 worked with through events
0 (for example, assemblies,
2021/22 2022/23
workshops, and so on).
Year
Figure 2. Number of 5,595 parents and carers
parents and carers
directly worked with (compared
worked with directly.
with more than 4,500 worked
6 with in 2021/22). This includes:
5
2,016 parents and carers
4 supported through one-to-
3
one and small group work.
5,595
4,500
2 3,579 parents and carers
1 worked with through events
(for example, workshops,
0
2021/22 2022/23 information sessions).
Year
(thousands)
Number of young people
(thousands)
Number of parents and carers
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
73
----- End of picture text -----

2022/23

73 services for young people and their families, across our three priority areas of emotional health and wellbeing, risk and vulnerability, and child poverty (compared with 78 services active in 2021/22).

376 youth participation activities conducted, including consultations, residentials, and podcast recordings.

Our impact 2022/23

----- Start of picture text -----
1% 2% 2% <1%
6%
14%
6%
9% 11%
44% 53%
6%
71% 75%
Gender d Ethnicity Age
Age
Ethnicit
----- End of picture text -----

Age

Ethnicity

Girls White Aged 10 to 18 Boys Black or Black British Aged 19 to 24 Non-binary and Asian or Asian British Aged 9 or under other trans identities Mixed or multiple Not known Not known ethnic groups Not known Other ethnic groups

Figure 3. Young people (n = 9,438) supported through one-to-one and small group work in 2022/23, by demographic characteristics.

Working for change

Team TCS

We continued to provide support, guidance, thought leadership, and evidence to local authorities, professionals, businesses, government, and the wider sector.

863,555 young people estimated to be impacted as a result of our systems change work with over 24,000 professionals (compared with an estimated 738,220 young people impacted in 2021/22).

We released our eleventh Good Childhood Report. More than 2,000 children took part in our annual survey, which was a key source for this report.

More than 135,000 people actively supported our work through volunteering, donating, fundraising, and campaigning (compared with more than 127,000 in 2021/22).

Around 4,000 volunteers , including 1,800 retail volunteers (compared with around 7,500 volunteers (2,000 in retail) in 2021/22).*

More than 4,300 supporters joined our calls to action across 15 key issues, including the spring statement, local welfare assistance, the cost of living, mental health, and children’s social care (compared with more than 13,000 supporters taking action in 2021/22).

This year’s lower figure is in part due to the migration of our volunteer data to Beehive. We are in the process of clarifying the data cleansing involved in this process.

The Children’s Society

Our finances

----- Start of picture text -----
50
2022/23
2021/22
40
30
20
10
0
Total Total Net
income expenditure income
Income/expenditure
Annual spending (millions)
----- End of picture text -----

	2022/23	2021/22
	£000	£000
Total income	42,605	39,048
Total expenditure	(40,001)	(38,007)
Net income	2,604	1,041

Figure 4. Total income and expenditure in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.

Looking ahead

We’ll continue to focus our service delivery work on emotional health and wellbeing, risk and vulnerability, and child poverty. We’ll now further explore how these themes and the issues young people face are interconnected, so that we can provide holistic support that keeps young people safe from harm.
Emotional health and wellbeing: We’ll be launching the pilot of our youth-designed, open access, early intervention wellbeing service in Newham later in 2023, allowing young people in the community to access support as soon as they need it. We’ll test and refine our approach before scaling this nationally in the coming years.
Risk and vulnerability: We’re expanding our work supporting children and young people who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence. We’ll collaborate with a wide range of partners to influence key inquiries, reports, and policies, including the recommendations from the independent children’s social care review and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
Child poverty: We’ll continue to work with partners to influence the Government on policies related to benefits and migration and to make sure that young people’s voices are heard, their rights are protected, and families are supported.
We want to target our work where it will have most impact. To do this, we’ll be using our new theory of change to develop and implement a new framework to measure impact.
We’ll also be working to widen our supporter base to make sure we have the resources available to achieve our goals.

Our impact 2022/23

Where we work

Figure 5. Map showing where we have worked with children, young people, and parents and carers through one-to-one and small group work in 2022/23. Each dot represents an approximate location, determined by home postcode, where at least one person was supported.

Newcastle

Leeds

Manchester

Nottingham

Norwich

Birmingham

Chelmsford

London

Torquay

The Children’s Society

1. Our mission, vision, and values

Our vision

is for a society built for all children.

Our goal

is to overturn the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing by 2030, setting a path for long-lasting growth.

All that we do is led by our values.

We’re brave, unafraid to

challenge injustice wherever and whenever we see it. We’re fearless in our determination to make sure young people are heard. We try new things and push boundaries, and when we fail, we learn. And then we go again.

We’re ambitious for the

potential in all young people. For all that children can be in the future, and for a society that’s built for all children. And we’re ambitious about our role in effecting that change – pioneering new projects and boldly calling for radical change.

We’re supportive and always

see the good in every young person we help, inspiring them to new and greater achievements. We help them see where their lives can go and what they can become. And we listen to and respect them.

We’re trusted, delivering the best care and support available for young people. We never give up on them. We stay by their side through everything, no matter how hard things get, until things have changed for the better.

Our impact 2022/23

chance.”

The Children’s Society

2. Our impact and achievements 2022/23

Every day, The Children’s Society works directly with teenagers and young people to create a new society: one where every single child grows up safe, happy, and filled with hope for their future. Everything we do moves us further along our journey towards a society built for all children – whether we’re directly supporting a young person, working with professionals to improve the systems designed to protect children, campaigning alongside our supporters to drive long-term change, or helping local authorities improve their responses to young people.

This section of our impact summary and annual report highlights the reach and effectiveness of our work during 2022/23. It first speaks to our key achievements and developments in the last year, against the objectives we set for ourselves. Then, it dives into some specific areas where we have demonstrated impact. It shares examples of our services and the important work they do to support young people and their parents, carers, and families. It shows how we deliver impact by galvanising supporters and raising awareness with the public. And it highlights the ways in which we work to influence locally and nationally, coming together with partners to drive sustainable positive systems change. This year in particular we have more

clearly articulated how we make change within these different parts of the systems that impact children and young people.

The work of The Children’s Society is as varied as the young people that we meet, and demonstrating the impact of such diverse activities can be challenging. In 2022/23, we developed a new theory of change, which has provided the foundations for an updated impact measurement framework that we intend to complete and put into practice during 2023/24. By evolving our approach to impact in this way, we will be able to focus our efforts on where we make the greatest difference and track our progress as we work towards our 2030 goal.

We work across three priority areas: emotional health and wellbeing, risk and vulnerability, and child poverty. These are areas of critical importance in children’s lives and where we believe we can have the most impact. These three priorities sit alongside two other objectives that focus on building a community and strengthening TeamTCS. Each objective is a vital part of our journey towards our vision, and we hope that this section of our report demonstrates how they intersect and overlap to allow for impact on a wider scale.

•• 11 17

The Children’s Society

2.1. How we delivered our objectives

Our objectives are as bold and challenging as our goal, and together they have the potential to create real change. We set our objectives in 2021/22 and have made real progress towards delivering each of these priorities since then.

Objective 1: Emotional health and wellbeing

We will work with children and young people, and others who support them, to create meaningful, innovative ways to respond to the early signs of their low wellbeing.

We published our latest Good Childhood Report in September 2022 and shared the results with over 200 professionals at numerous sector events. The report highlighted that children’s overall wellbeing (or happiness with life as a whole) is still in decline – demonstrating the ongoing importance of our work.

Our mental health support teams enabled 55 schools to take a wholeschool approach to wellbeing , and we delivered an evidence-based intervention to reduce self-harming behaviour.

We were awarded the chance to develop our early intervention offer for young people who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence in four areas across the country.
We developed our digital wellbeing platform and have started piloting it across our emotional health and wellbeing services. This is the first young person-centred digital product we’ve developed and the first time that we’ve involved our service users in a full end-to-end design process. We hope it will support young people as they transition out of our services, helping them to understand and navigate their emotional wellbeing more independently.
We continued to build links in the education sector, helping schools to further develop their wellbeing policies and refine recommendations on the introduction of a national wellbeing measure for use in schools.

Our impact 2022/23

Objective 2: Risk and vulnerability

We will actively challenge and change ineffective systems that fail to protect children from abuse and harm.

Our Tackling Child Exploitation (TCE) support programme – a consortium partnership with Research in Practice and the University of Bedfordshire – developed and launched multi-agency practice principles , which have cross-government support.
We delivered 2,549 return home interviews with 630 children who had gone missing from home and shared with the Welsh Government young people’s views that every child in Wales who goes missing should be offered an interview too.

We developed a missing children response benchmarking

assessment tool with the NWG Network. This has helped to improve multi-agency support for missing children and boost the work of safeguarding partnerships. It has been used by 61 local authorities.
We successfully lobbied for domestic abuse statutory guidance to recognise teenage relationship abuse for the first time.
We continued #LookCloser , a partnership campaign run with the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre and the British Transport Police and funded by the Home Office. The campaign’s website had over 16,000 visits in 2022/23, and more than 4,000 people attended our learning sessions.
We contributed evidence to numerous consultations , including on modern slavery and trafficking, policing standards, and supported accommodation. We have been instrumental in supporting the compilation of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (IRCSC) in particular, submitting several pieces to shape both the review and the Government’s response to it, including helping to make sure there is an increased focus on teenagers and extra familial harm.

We developed a new child exploitation prevention e-learning

product aimed at the corporate sector. This will enable professionals to spot the signs of exploitation and act safely.

The Children’s Society

Objective 3: Child poverty

We will fight to reduce child poverty, influencing policy and decision makers to make change happen.

Our #ProtectEveryChildhood campaign was based on first-hand accounts from young people’s encounters of the benefits system, evidencing the effects of rising living costs and the need to keep benefits in line with inflation. Our political lobbying, media, and campaign communications helped make sure benefits were uprated in line with inflation (benefitting 11.3 million children in families whose benefits will be uprated). This demonstrates the power of lived experience in shaping public policy.

Our Strengthen the Safety Net campaign helped to make an

additional £500 million available to low income families in England through the Household Support Fund. A further £1 billion is committed for 2023/24, and removing ring fencing around pensions has freed up funding to support more families.

We succeeded in influencing the school census through lobbying and the #YoungCarersCount campaign. This census now asks all young people about their caring responsibilities. This will help to raise awareness and improve understanding of the experiences of hundreds of thousands of young carers.
We successfully rallied our supporters to write to their MPs and lobbied the Government to secure permanent free school meals eligibility for families with no recourse to public funds, and have developed and run training with schools across England to raise awareness of this. We estimate that this will benefit around 224,500 children in total. Our refugee and migrant services also gave targeted support to 233 children and young people.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) listened to our Youth-Led Commission on Separated Children (YLCSC) and included their call for independent guardians in their recommendations to the UK Government. The YLCSC featured on The Children’s Society’s podcast, which was shared with 15,000 supporters.
After several years of campaigning for affordable school uniforms , we successfully got the School Uniforms Bill passed into law. This came into effect in September 2022 and will benefit millions of children and their families. In 2022/23, we worked with Child Poverty Action Group and Children North East to equip schools to put the changes into action and 550 schools attended our webinar in May 2022.
Our supporters wrote to 539 MPs urging them to attend the debate on the Nationality and Borders Bill and vote to protect children.

Our impact 2022/23

Objective 4: Building a community

We will inspire, and grow, the community of people, uniting them to achieve our shared vision.

We ran 15 supporter campaigns on topics ranging from local welfare assistance and the cost of living to children’s social care, and reached over 150,000 supporters. 4,337 supporters actively joined at least one of our campaigns.
73 people ran the London Marathon on behalf of The Children’s Society, and 15 runners took part in the Great North Run – including six Anglican prison chaplains.
We were supported by 70 committee and support groups , and 71 active community volunteers providing over 300 hours of activity.
Last year saw the highest number of Christingle services held since the pandemic, with almost 1,800 events pages published on our website (up by more than 350 on 2021/22).

We tested 27 new supporter and commercial prototypes during the year, and reviewed and improved our e-commerce platforms . We re-developed our online donation form templates and introduced mobile wallet payment.

We were delighted to welcome new corporate partners including Kennedys Law LLP and Manchester Airport Group.

The Children’s Society

Objective 5: Growth and sustainability

We will transform into one united TeamTCS where we each feel equipped, valued, and supported.

We developed an organisation-wide theory of change to allow us to align our resources with our vision and objectives. We’re currently developing an impact measurement framework to help us better capture, understand, and report our impact.
We established a youth voice hub – an internal working group to improve the process of weaving young people’s voices into all aspects of our work.
We ran our first comprehensive Your Voice survey in May 2022 for staff and volunteers. This achieved a 75% response rate, and we also launched shorter pulse surveys to provide more regular updates on how we’re doing.
We initiated executive and management development programmes , and consolidated our learning opportunities into a learning and development catalogue.
We launched our Growing Together initiative. This is designed to encourage creative learning opportunities , hear every voice, embrace innovation, and foster inclusivity.
We produced a pay gap report and initiated work on our pay and grading review . Between 2018 and 2021, our median and mean pay gaps narrowed and last year both were better than the UK average of 15.5%.

Our latest talent inclusion and diversity evaluation assessment shows a positive 15% increase over our 2021 evaluation, as various equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives have been introduced. For example, sharing an anti-racist statement of intent in the Youth Impact domain and reviewing our organisation dignity at work policy.

We completed phases 3 and 4 of the introduction of our CRM implementation , giving improved supporter insight.
We put in place an organisational property strategy .
We developed an impact fund so that we can use a portion of our reserves to support targeted initiatives, boosting our impact on the lives of young people.
In recognition of the impact of rising living costs, we provided support and a one-off payment to staff in January 2023.

Our impact 2022/23

2.2. The areas of work we prioritise and why

Our priority areas are emotional health and wellbeing, risk and vulnerability, and child poverty. In the following section, each priority area is explored in turn, highlighting our impact and the interconnections between each theme. No part of our work exists in isolation. For this report, we have segmented our services into our three priority areas, based on whether the services’ key aims are to address one of these priority areas. However, it is important to remember that wellbeing is an important element of all our work, and all our services are likely to support people living in poverty.

Figure 6. Young people (n = 63,779) worked with through one-to-one and small group work and events, by priority area.

Priority area	No. of children and young people supported through one-to- one and small group work	No. of children and young people worked with through events	Total no. of young people worked with
Emotional health and wellbeing	5,605	43,281	48,886
Risk and vulnerability	2,482	9,498	11,980
Child poverty	1,340	1,017	2,357
Other	11	545	556
Total	9,438	54,341	63,779

Figure 7.

Five ways we impact children and young people and the systems surrounding them. These icons are used throughout the impact section of this report to show how we are making change in these areas.[3]

----- Start of picture text -----
Improving the support Supporting parents,
given by peers, carers, and families.
neighbourhoods
and local education,
health, and social
care systems.
Working directly
with children
and young people.
Driving change in national,
local, and institutional policies, Influencing social values,
and processes and networks. norms, and attitudes.
----- End of picture text -----

The Children’s Society

How we measure impact

We measure the impact of our work in several different ways. This includes asking young people how they feel about different aspects of their lives at the beginning of our work with them and revisiting those topics after they have engaged with our services. We track these ‘outcomes’ using different tools, depending on what is most appropriate for the type and length of work we are doing with the young people in our services. In this report, we have reported changes in outcomes where before and after data are available for at least 25% of service users. This is based on the response rates that we typically see across our services.

We also use a feedback survey to ask young people about their experiences of our services, including how satisfied they are with the support they received. For this feedback survey, we have reported figures when at least 20% of service users have completed it. This is based on external trends in response rates to online surveys as well as our typical internal response rates.[4]

We know it’s not always possible or appropriate to collect this data, but we are working hard to try and improve our impact measurement response rates. Tracking young people’s progress in this way is crucial in helping us to understand how we’re making a difference.

We also gather data about the reach of our work. Due to the complexity of the needs of some young people, in our total reach numbers there may

be occasional instances where an individual has been counted multiple times as a user of multiple services. When capturing demographic data, we aim to make sure that data reflects the young person’s self-reported gender identity and ethnicity. However, sometimes this data may be incorrect or missing if only completed by the adult referring the young person into the service. We are working internally to improve the inclusivity of the questions we ask, as well as the completeness and accuracy of the data we collect, while ensuring we create a safe and validating experience for the young people we work with.

We understand the influence of our services through gathering feedback and speaking to stakeholders. For every one professional we work with, we estimate that approximately 35 young people could benefit from systemic change (based on estimates of how many young people professionals across different sectors come into contact within their work). This metric will be reviewed as part of the development of our impact measurement framework.

We further evaluate our impact through independent evaluations (for example, see our Checkpoint service on page 29 and our Prevention programme on page 40),as well as evaluations conducted by our internal team (for example, see our Climb service on page 38).

Our impact 2022/23

2.3. Emotional health and wellbeing

In 2022/23:

18 emotional health and wellbeing services

1,609 parents and carers

supported through one-to-one and small group work

5,605 children and young

people supported through one-to-one and small group work

3,030 professionals

reached by these services

43,281 children and

young people worked with through events (for example, assemblies, workshops)

106,050 young people

estimated as reached through systems change work

Our emotional health and wellbeing services include long-term support, one-to-one therapy, group work, peer support, and drop-in services.

----- Start of picture text -----
“I felt like I hadn’t
ben heard before.
Now, I have .”
hope
25
----- End of picture text -----

The Children’s Society

What are emotional health and wellbeing?

Wellbeing is about how we’re doing. It’s about how we feel about our lives and ourselves. There are two different measures of wellbeing. Objective wellbeing focuses on social indicators of quality of life like health, education, and income. Subjective wellbeing is about personal experiences and an individual’s own views of how they feel about their lives.

Wellbeing and mental health – what’s the difference?

Although there is a relationship between mental health and wellbeing, they are not the same thing. Some of us might have ‘good’ mental health, and some of us might experience mental health challenges, like depression or anxiety.

Our mental health affects how we think and feel and how we cope with stress and relate to others. It can also change throughout our lives. Some of us might experience mental health issues for a few months or a year; others might face more long-term challenges.

While our wellbeing can be affected by both our physical and mental health and vice versa, it can also be affected by other things happening in our lives. Some of us might have low subjective wellbeing but no symptoms of mental illness; others might have high subjective wellbeing alongside being diagnosed with a mental health condition.

Our impact 2022/23

What do we know about children’s emotional health and wellbeing?

Each year, we publish the Good Childhood Report, a piece of research into children’s subjective wellbeing which centres on children’s own views of how their lives are going.

Our Good Childhood Report 2022 found a continuing decline in trends in children’s overall wellbeing.[5] A larger proportion of children we surveyed in 2022 were unhappy with school than with the other aspects of their lives they were asked about, and the pandemic’s impact was laid bare – 11% of children indicated that they did not cope well with overall changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.[6]

Every young person should be able to access support for their wellbeing and mental health as soon as they need it, but too often this is not the case. A 2022 survey by YoungMinds found that more than four in ten young people surveyed waited more than a month for support after seeking it and more than a third said they did not feel supported by their GP when trying to access support or advice.[7] Shockingly, more than one in four of the young people surveyed said they had tried to take their own life as a result of having to wait for help. This is unacceptable, and we urgently need to address this gap in support. Our services aim to improve young people’s emotional and mental health and wellbeing, providing tailored, child-centred support when it’s needed.

What are the impacts of low wellbeing?

Low wellbeing has been found to be associated with how we feel about our relationships with family and friends, how we feel about the world, and how we interact with others. In the short term, it can make day-to-day life really difficult for young people, impacting their education, friendships, and more. It can have a significant longterm impact too, contributing to ongoing challenges in other areas of a young person’s life.

How does our work support young people’s emotional health and wellbeing?

The following section gives some examples of how our emotional health and wellbeing services provide targeted, integrated, evidence-based interventions. This includes longterm, one-to-one therapy, group work, and more. Some of our services work in schools, colleges, or universities, while others engage with families and communities or provide support tailored to young people facing specific challenges. Our youth voice activity, meanwhile, works to include young people in key decisions. This influences and informs our work as an organisation.

All that we do seeks to improve children’s wellbeing. In the next section on our work tackling risk and vulnerability, we’ll show how our work to support children who are being exploited, for example, reduces risk of harm and helps young people to build positive relationships. Later, when exploring our work addressing child poverty, it’s clear that our campaigning on benefits and local welfare assistance has addressed financial challenges that many families were facing.

The Children’s Society

2.3.1. Tailoring wellbeing interventions to children’s needs

It’s vital that we work together to provide tailored, holistic mental health and wellbeing support that is embedded within communities. We support government, local authorities, youth services, and schools to measure and boost wellbeing in communities, and work directly with young people and their families to offer targeted, child-centred interventions that look to improve wellbeing and give young people the tools they need to stay healthy.

The right support at the right time

Our RISE mental health support team (MHST)[8] is commissioned by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, the NHS, Health Education England (HEE), and the Department for Education’s (DfE) Mental Health in Schools programme, and works in schools in Newcastle and Gateshead. It is integrated with local child and adult mental health services and works on a single point of access model to reduce waiting list times. Our trained education mental health practitioners (EMHPs) take a whole-school approach, working alongside education professionals and parents and carers to offer low intensity mental health support for children aged 5 to 18. This includes one-to-one support, group and drop-in sessions, assemblies, and digital resources.

In 2022/23, RISE directly supported 710 young people across 55 schools through one-to-one support and group work. We reached a further 27,857 children through wider school events. Outcomes data were available for 115 of the 163 (71%) young people who were supported by one-to-one work. After receiving support, 92% of these young people (106 out of 115) experienced improved outcomes relating to goals they set with their practitioner. 36 out of 37 young people who completed our feedback survey were satisfied with the support they received.

Looking forward

Wellbeing interventions should be based on evidence about children’s thoughts and experiences. That’s why we’re piloting a wellbeing measurement tool with a school in Newcastle. Our practitioners are helping the school understand data on pupils’ wellbeing and adapt their wellbeing provision in line with students’ needs.

Our impact 2022/23

A wraparound response: working with schools and partners

Recognising that schools are an important touchpoint where young people can access support, our Checkpoint team in Torbay has been piloting an evidence-based approach to support children and young people who are struggling with self-harm. This includes delivering dialectical behavioural therapy for adolescents in a school setting and facilitating workshops with young people on skills like describing and understanding their emotions and self-soothing.[9]

In 2022/23, this service supported 43 young people. An evaluation of this intervention, conducted by researchers at the National Institute

for Health Research and Care Applied Research Collaboration – South West Peninsula, found that using this therapy in a school setting had several benefits. Out of the 22 students for whom data were available, 17 said they self-harmed once a month or more before receiving treatment; after support, this was reduced to just 7 students. The evaluation also involved interviews with 7 young people, 16 members of school staff, and 1 parent. These indicated that students’ interpersonal relationships also improved, through the development of emotional self-regulation and empathy. The intervention helped teachers to provide earlier, more timely support for children who might otherwise have experienced long NHS waiting times.

Daniel’s story

Growing up, Daniel had always been happy enough. He was doing well at school, and he enjoyed hanging out with his friends. But when he was a teenager, his mental health began to spiral. He didn’t know how to cope, and he started taking drugs to try to numb the pain he was feeling. His dad, Sam, felt powerless as he watched his son become more and more unhappy. Feeling utterly shattered and broken down, Daniel took two overdoses in the space of a week and was hospitalised.

“The sesions felt like they were meant to be in my life.”

Daniel

That’s when Sam reached out to The Children’s Society. When Daniel came home from hospital, he met with one of our specialist practitioners, Steve. At weekly sessions, Steve worked with Sam and Daniel to give them a framework to navigate what had happened and begin to heal. Because Daniel loved martial arts and yoga, Steve focused the sessions on learning about meditation and yoga, helping Daniel find new ways to cope. Sam joined a family support group too.

For Daniel, getting the right support was transformational. Now, he and his dad are looking forward to the future with hope. Because we take a holistic, child-centred approach, we were able to support Daniel in a way that was tailored to his needs – making the help he received more effective. 29

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Amplifying young people’s voices

Listening to and amplifying the voices of young people is a vital part of our wellbeing work. Statistics from The Good Childhood Report continue to be used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are a key source in the DfE’s annual State of the Nation report on children’s wellbeing – our research influences policies and practice at the highest level.

3,449 downloads of the full Good Childhood Report 2022 (from launch to 31 March 2023)
More than 200 people joining launch events across the country for the 2022 report
307 pieces of media coverage when the report launched, including in The Guardian and The Independent and on Times Radio
372 mentions on social media during the launch period.

As well as this, we provided multiple consultation responses relating to children’s emotional health and wellbeing in 2022/23. For example, in February 2023, we collaborated with a health policy influencing group, coordinated by the National Children’s Bureau, to provide feedback to the Hewitt Review, an independent review of integrated care systems. Using evidence from our direct practice, we highlighted that change is needed to ensure local mental health and wellbeing services work well for young people.

We were pleased to see the review’s subsequent emphasis on cross-system collaboration to meet children’s needs and removing health inequalities that begin in childhood, and their assertion that integrated care boards should clearly reference the needs of young people in their forward plans. We look forward to building on this work to make sure that children’s voices are embedded in the practices of local health systems.

Our impact 2022/23

Looking forward

In July 2022, we submitted a comprehensive response to the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) consultation on their mental health and wellbeing plan,[10] both as The Children’s Society and in coalition with the Fund the Hubs campaign. We included direct responses from young people, as well as evidence from our services and research.

Unfortunately, in January 2023 the Government announced that the mental health and wellbeing plan would be replaced by a broader major conditions strategy.[11] While we welcome the commitment that mental health issues will be tackled urgently alongside conditions such as cancer, we are concerned that this new strategy will be insufficient in meeting the level of change required or the support children and young people need for their mental health and wellbeing. While this new strategy is being developed, we will continue to work with civil servants and coalition partners to make the case for children’s mental health.

The Children’s Society

2.3.2. Supporting children who have experienced abuse or trauma

Experiencing challenges like abuse and trauma can have a massive negative impact on young people’s emotional health and wellbeing in both the shortand long-term. They might feel alone or afraid, not knowing who to talk to. They might be dealing with symptoms like flashbacks or panic attacks because of what’s happened.[12] It’s vital that they get the support they need.

Our skilled practitioners use a child-centred approach to support young people who have experienced complex trauma, including child sexual abuse and domestic violence. We have decades of experience in this space and are now growing our range of services to better support children who are living in a home with domestic violence.

Offering therapeutic support

Our Manchester Resolve service, commissioned by Manchester City Council, supports children and young people aged 5 to 18 who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence. Most of the young people referred to us still live in the home where domestic abuse is currently happening and need immediate support. Resolve aims to reduce the long-term impact of domestic violence and abuse on young people through psychosocial intervention, counselling, and play therapy.

In 2022/23, we supported 113 children and young people. Outcomes data were available for 80 young people (71% of all young people supported). 98% of these young people (78 out of 80) had improved outcomes, including reporting greater understanding of safety and healthy relationships and improved wellbeing. All 31 of the young people who completed our feedback survey were satisfied with the support they received, and we are delighted that this service now has confirmed funding support until March 2025.

We are now implementing a new service, Resolve@ . Commissioned by the Home Office, Resolve@ delivers an early intervention model in Shropshire, Torbay, Merseyside, and Rochdale, providing brief therapeutic interventions immediately after an incident of domestic violence or abuse has been reported. This will help reduce the time young people spend waiting for help and their risk of experiencing traumatic distress.

A similar early intervention model has shown promise in our Checkpoint service. We have developed an evidence-based model to reduce waiting lists for support for children who have experienced sexual abuse, and ultimately delay and reduce the onset of post-traumatic stress. In 2022/23, we supported 128 children and young people. Out of the 35 young people for whom outcomes data are available, 27 experienced improved outcomes, including reduction in risk and improved mental health outcomes related to anxiety and depression.

Our impact 2022/23

Here for families

In Nottingham, our Safe Choices service delivers traumainformed support for young people who have been, or are at risk of being, sexually exploited or abused, and their families. It also raises awareness among parents and carers through group and one-to-one sessions, and practitioners attend multi-agency meetings, acting as advocates for young people within the social care system.

In 2022/23, Safe Choices supported 66 young people. Out of the 35 young people for whom data are available, 30 experienced improved outcomes, including improved knowledge about exploitation and improved wellbeing. 11 parents and carers received targeted help too, while 107 were supported through wider events.

Natasha’s story

Natasha works as an intensive support worker for The Children’s Society, helping young people who are at risk of or who are being sexually exploited. For Natasha, the most important thing is building a strong relationship with the young people she supports – it can’t be rushed.

One young person she worked with was very quiet and reluctant to talk. Natasha spent time getting to know her and tried to talk to her about online safety and consent. When the young person said she wasn’t interested, Natasha told her she was allowed to leave whenever she liked. The young person did, and a similar thing happened the following week. But for Natasha, this was progress. The young person felt empowered not to have a conversation she didn’t want to have and to assert herself. And it established a level of trust that made a huge difference as the young person’s support continued.

Unpicking a traumatic situation and finding ways to keep a young person safe and help them move forward is a long and complicated process. Sometimes, progress might be difficult to see. Natasha makes sure that the young people she works with feel empowered to move at their own pace, giving them back a sense of autonomy and power. For young people who have experienced traumatic situations like sexual exploitation, this is really important.

“They need us to reassure them that they can recover from this.”

Natasha

The Children’s Society

2.3.3. Making sure young carers’ voices are heard

Across the UK, there are thousands of young carers under the age of 18 looking after a friend or family member. Their extra responsibilities can have a big impact on their lives – making it more difficult for them to dedicate time to school, and to make friends or relax at home, all things they should be able to enjoy in their childhood.[13] Our work with young carers helps them to understand their rights and make time for school and fun. We also advocate for young carers, calling on professionals and government to address their needs.

Making young carers visible

The 2021 ONS census data reported there are approximately 120,000 young carers aged 5 to 17 in England;[14] however, we believe that this is a serious underrepresentation, as schools have never before been required to ask young people about their caring responsibilities. We were worried that many of them were missing out on support.

During the pandemic, we supported HitsRadio to launch the #YoungCarersCount campaign. This highlighted the experiences of young carers during lockdown and called for a child’s carer status to be included in the school census. The school census is led by the DfE and collects information like pupil’s background details, special educational needs, and educational history.

We are proud to say in 2022/2023, young carers were added to the school census return for the first time.[15] As data quality improves overtime, we believe this will give a much clearer picture of the numbers of young carers across England and how they’re impacted by their caring responsibilities and should help to significantly improve the support they receive.

Our impact 2022/23

Opportunities for participation

A young carer from our Include national participation group, supported by the Co-op Foundation, attended an afternoon tea reception at the House of Lords on the Young Carers Action Day, hosted by the Carers Trust. At the event, young carers gave speeches sharing their experiences and challenged MPs and peers to take action. One young carer who attended delivered a copy of an open letter to 10 Downing Street,[16] signed by more than 80 CEOs (including Mark Russell) and 300 professionals, parents, carers, and young carers.

Young person

Every year, we run the Young Carers Festival with YMCA Fairthorne Manor. We were delighted to welcome over 800 young carers to the festival in 2022. The theme was ‘Time to be me’, with a focus on creating space for young carers to be themselves, have fun, and relax with their peers, and talk openly about the issues that are affecting them. The Children’s Commissioner’s office joined the festival as part of their research on family life and has since included the young carers’ voices in the first part of their independent family review.[17]

The Children’s Society

2.4. Risk and vulnerability

In 2022/23:

31 risk services

201 parents and carers

supported through one-to-one support and small group work

2,482 children and young

people supported through one-to-one support and small group work

18,102 professionals reached by these services

9,498 children and young

people worked with through events (for example, assemblies, workshops)

633,570 young people

estimated as reached through systems change work

Services in this priority area work to tackle exploitation; provide return home interviews and support to children who go missing; or support children experiencing substance use, child sexual abuse, domestic abuse, or who are on the ‘edge of care’.

Our impact 2022/23

What do we mean by risk?

When we talk about being at risk, we’re referring to factors and situations that might threaten a child’s safety. Across the UK, thousands of children are at risk of or already impacted by dangers like criminal and sexual exploitation, abuse, and neglect.[18] The Children’s Society works to protect every childhood – both by providing services that help keep children safe, and by working to change systems and policies so that they protect young people more effectively.

What do we know about the risks children are facing?

Right now, the threats to children’s safety are growing. Last year, more than 400,000 children were identified as being in need in England, the highest number since 2018,[19] and research estimates around 500,000 children are sexually abused each year in England and Wales.[20]

More than 1 in 4 children live in poverty,[21] and the cost of living crisis is putting even more young people and their families at risk[22] – this, in turn, increases a young person’s risk of harm from exploitation, abuse, or neglect.[23] Some groups of young people are facing additional pressures too. Care experienced children, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), minoritised communities, young refugees and migrants (often separated and unaccompanied), and those living in poverty are particularly at greater risk of exploitation.[24]

What are the impacts of these risks?

Every young person has the right to safety. Experiencing child abuse and neglect can have significant negative long-term impacts, including higher rates of mental and substance use disorders in adulthood.[25] It’s vital that children get the right support at the right time.

How does our work impact the risks children are facing?

Our services offer young people targeted oneto-one support and group work activities, tailored to their individual needs. We help them to understand how to cope with what has happened, how to seek help, and ways that future risks can be reduced or prevented.

Alongside this, our political advocacy and influencing work is helping to challenge and improve the systems designed to protect young people. In 2022/23, as part of our work to influence the IRCSC, we joined together with six other children’s charities to organise the #ItsOurCare day of action, which included careexperienced young people visiting parliament to share their lived experience.[26]

We have been calling for the IRCSC’s final publication to reflect the issues faced by teenagers. This includes the need for longterm relationship-based support and help for adolescents experiencing complex needs, as well as better support during transitions to adulthood, for children in care, and for those on the edge of care.

We were pleased that our calls for change were heard. A focus on family help, extrafamilial harm, and responses to teenagers were all included in the independent review and the Government’s response to it, signalling a welcome shift in approach across policymakers.[27] We remain concerned that the new proposed strategy is not appropriately funded and is not moving at pace. We initiated a joint statement with other charities when the review was published and continue to seek to influence the government on this so that its recommendations are considered.

The Children’s Society

2.4.1. Protecting children from exploitation

We work to tackle exploitation at every stage. Our early intervention work with young people takes action to try and stop exploitation before it happens. Our prevention work fosters improved strategic responses from professionals and agencies when they’re working with young people who have been or are at risk of being exploited. We also work to disrupt exploitation and raise awareness within communities, and our services are here for young people who have been exploited, providing tailored high intensity support.

Early intervention

Our Climb service provides early intervention support to young people at risk of harm from exploitation, and knife crime. It is commissioned by the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner and covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Telford and Wrekin.

In 2022/23, project workers and volunteers provided tailored support to 261 young people aged 10 to 17, helping them to understand the risks from harm around them and get involved in positive, diversionary activities like sports, arts, or drama activities, vocational courses, or social clubs. These divert young people away from other things, helping to make it less likely that they will be harmed or exploited.

An internal evaluation[28] investigated the impact of the service on the 392 young people who had been supported since the service started in April 2020 until August 2022. These young people had better school attendance (recorded for 180 young people) and less involvement with the criminal justice system (recorded for 124 young people).Further outcomes data were available for 258 young people. Of these, 92% reported they felt better about at least one of: drugs and alcohol; wellbeing; safety; structure and education; behaviour and citizenship; and family. Nearly two-thirds (62%) reported increases

in three or more of these areas. Wellbeing showed the highest average increase.

“When I first met the project worker, I didn’t care about myself, I cared more about others. That improved after. It’s given me a bost.”

Young person

Young people spoken to as part of the evaluation reported feeling more confident and listened to by the Climb staff. Partners and staff reported that the team also supports families and works to drive systemic change, participating in multi-agency work with local authorities and statutory services, training professionals, and collaborating with our national Disrupting Exploitation (DEx) programme to produce a school resource pack.[29] We are thrilled that Climb secured funding in 2022 to operate for a further two years and that a new family worker post will be introduced.

“[The service manager] has been absolutely fundamental in helping [us] achieve some of our goals.”

Partner

Our impact 2022/23

Promoting participation

Meanwhile, in North Yorkshire and York, Hand in Hand works with children and young people who are at risk of or who are being sexually or criminally exploited, as well as those that have been reported as missing from home or care on multiple occasions. In 2022/23, Hand in Hand worked directly with 39 young people. Out of the 21 young people for whom data are available, every young person experienced improved outcomes, including greater understanding of safety and improved wellbeing and physical health. An additional 128 young people attended events run by the service.

Hand in Hand also supported a group of young people to participate in other activities to direct The Children’s Society’s wider work, including:

April 2022 May to		engaging in our strategic project to develop an organisation theory of change. developing promotional material to
August 2022 July		grow Hand in Hand’s reach. sharing their views on education, poverty, safety, and more with Just for Kids Law and
2022 September 2022 December		the Children’s Rights Alliance for England to inform the UNCRC’s fve-yearly report. presenting at a Good Childhood Report launch event, focusing on appearance and school. involvement in recruitment of new staf for
2022 March		Hand in Hand, following interview training. designing social media posts giving advice
2023		to other young people on how to handle common issues.

To recognise their incredible contributions, we presented these young people with a Star Award at our Over the Rainbow event in July 2022.

The Children’s Society

LookCloser to prevent exploitation

Our Prevention programme aims to transform the world around each child, encouraging members of the public, businesses, and professionals to play their part in keeping children safe and disrupting the ways in which exploiters operate. We bring together networks of stakeholders from a range of sectors across England and Wales to drive innovative practice, identify emerging issues, and upskill professionals.

This year, an external evaluation conducted by Habitus Collective[30] found that the programme nurtures leadership across the sector, extends the specialist expertise of prevention officers, and uses a relational approach to supports stakeholders to become system change makers. This helps stakeholders respond more effectively to exploitation at local and national levels.

The evaluation found that between September 2022 and February 2023, the programme engaged over 5,700 stakeholders. Of the 320 stakeholders who completed our feedback survey in this time period, 92% reported a change to their practice because of their work with the programme.

The programme also delivers the #LookCloser campaign in partnership with national policing. This engages professionals, the police, businesses, and the public through national learning sessions and wider campaigning. In 2022/23, 4,231 professionals, parents, and carers attended sessions and our #LookCloser campaign site had over 16,000 visits. The evaluation found that 93% of learning session participants said that their knowledge and understanding had improved. This is based on responses from 596 out of 1,449 attendees of the October 2022 #LookCloser programme of learning (41% response rate).

“[The Prevention programme team] are much further ahead of a lot of people in terms of raising the profile of exploitation.They work collaboratively to tackle exploitation.”

Partner

Our impact 2022/23

A new way to support young people

There is a link between substance use and other risks young people face, like abuse or violence. For example, 23% of young people who entered drug and alcohol treatment services in England during 2021/22 had been affected by domestic abuse and 5% had faced child sexual exploitation.[31] We also know that we should be focusing on supporting substance users with treatment and helping to stop them from entering the criminal justice system.[32]

That’s why since June 2022, our Essex Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Service (EYPDAS) has been collaborating with Essex Police and their youth justice team to pilot an early intervention approach that aims to direct young people away from the use of substances and wider associated risks of harm.

This project gives young people who have come into contact with the police due to having been found with a small amount of cannabis for personal use an opportunity to engage with EYPDAS as an alternative to charge and conviction. By offering early intervention, education, and links to other services, we’re helping young people access vital support. We trained 130 police officers on how to refer young people into this pathway and worked to address the stigma associated with people who use drugs or alcohol.

So far, we have supported 17 young people. For the 12 young people for whom we have captured outcome data, 12 experienced improvements in at least one of the key outcome areas examined: mental and emotional health, safety, hopes and dreams, having my say, where I live, education, family or carers, friends, and physical health. The project also helps parents and carers via family support groups.

“Having you there has made a world of difference to me to be able to discuss any issues and truly feel supported.”

Parent

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exploitation. As part of this, in November 2022, we published a report on youth voice, SEND, and exclusions,[34] amplifying the experiences and recommendations of 22 young people with SEND in North London who had experienced school exclusions. 710 people have since read the report, while 66 parents, carers, and professionals attended our first two webinars, in which we shared the findings and sign-posted further support. All of the 16 parents who responded to our feedback survey said they understand what support is available to them.

Making school work for children with special educational needs and disabilities

In July 2022, we submitted a response to the DfE’s SEND review consultation on the SEND and alternative provision green paper, making sure we represented children’s intersectional experiences. We highlighted the link between SEND, school exclusions, and the risk of exploitation, as well as the impact of having no recourse to public funds. The Government’s response in March 2023[33] emphasised early help, reducing exclusions, and coproduction with children and families – all of which were core to our response.

“As the safeguarding governor, I will definitely challenge the school on their exclusion policies and what support they provide for parents.”

Our DEx programme, which works in Greater Manchester, Birmingham, and London, is undertaking systems change work to address the link between school exclusions and

Webinar attendee

Working in partnership to influence national responses

The Tackling Child Exploitation (TCE) support programme was

commissioned by the DfE in 2019 and was delivered by The Children’s Society in a consortium with Research in Practice and the University of Bedfordshire. In the fourth year of the programme, we developed our multi-agency practice principles. These are rooted in the collective expertise of children, young people, parents, carers, and professionals, as well as extensive research and consultation. The principles focus on cultivating an environment that is conducive to thoughtful action and continuous learning – where every child feels respected and valued. The principles emphasise the need for adaptability and advocate for a strengths-based, holistic approach.[35]

More than 750 professionals and 240 children, young people, parents, and carers from across England took part in consultation sessions, offered feedback, and supported the development of the principles. It was a privilege to hear and learn from so many people who had been affected by child exploitation and extra-familial harm and we are pleased to say that the principles are now non-statutory guidance. They have cross-government support from the Home Office, DHSC, and the Ministry of Justice and have the potential to make a real difference for young people. We look forward to supporting organisations to consider adopting these principles in their work.

Our impact 2022/23

Looking ahead

Child criminal exploitation, when a child is groomed and exploited into criminal activity, is not currently defined in legislation. Too often, children who are forced into crime are treated as offenders rather than as victims of exploitation at a time when they desperately need support.

We have been working individually and as part of a coalition of children’s services to influence the Victims and Prisoners Bill , pushing for the statutory definition of child criminal exploitation to be included in the bill. We will continue this work as the bill goes through Parliament.

Katie’s story

When Katie started secondary school, it was a really exciting time. Her friendship group changed and got bigger, and she started using different social media channels and visiting new websites to keep in touch with them. But she didn’t realise that some of the things she was seeing and the people she was talking to were putting her in danger. It was only when the police came to talk to her that her family understood what was happening.

The police put Katie in touch with The Children’s Society and she met Sophia, one of our project workers. Sophia talked to Katie about what she was feeling and what had happened. And she told Katie about a group where she could meet other young people in her community.

“The Children’s Society puts .” hope back into children Katie

There, Katie found a new confidence. With The Children’s Society support, she was able to enjoy new experiences and opportunities, taking on challenges she never thought she’d be capable of. Now, she’s looking forward to her future.

The Children’s Society

2.4.2. Improving support for children who go missing from home or care

2,549 return home interviews have been conducted with 630 children and young people across our services in 2022/23. Many young people who go missing from home experience multiple missing episodes and therefore have multiple return home interviews.

Every year, thousands of children and young people across the UK go missing or run away from home or care. Some young people go missing as a result of coercion and control;[36] for others, going missing is a response to being unhappy in their care placements or feeling unsafe at home.[37] When they go missing, they can quickly find themselves in incredibly dangerous situations and even after they return to home or care, they frequently go missing again. We work with young people and their families to help them find positive alternatives.

We also work alongside our partners at Missing People to provide the joint secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on missing children and adults. This seeks to raise awareness of the issues faced by children and adults who go missing and their families. Here, and across other partnerships, we work collaboratively to improve local authority, multi-agency, and national responses, making sure that the support children receive is appropriate, timely, and effective.

Here to listen, here to help

In August 2022, we launched our new Safeguarding Children at Risk – Protection and Action (SCARPA) service in Bradford, funded by Bradford City Council. This helps young people who go missing from home or care by offering them a return home interview. These can help a young person access vital support, reducing the risk that they will go missing again.

Since launch, the service has completed 458 return home interviews for 117 young people, providing additional one-to-one support for 93 of these young people. Outcomes data were available for 43 out of 93 of these young people (46%). Of these, 41 said their interview had helped them learn more about their personal safety. 42 out of 43 found their interview helpful.

Our impact 2022/23

No child left behind

In partnership with the NWG Network, we developed the benchmarking tool for missing and exploited children ,[38] based on our own research into the experiences of children who go missing.[39] This tool helps local safeguarding partnerships and similar multi-agency groups assess their responses to missing children holistically, providing a framework for discussing how things can be done differently by working together. Most importantly, it centres children’s experiences.

Since its February 2021 launch, 61 local authorities in England have interacted with the tool. They have used it to improve police call handlers’ scripts, develop training for schools, improve referral pathways, develop better systems for sharing information, and more.

Additionally, since the publication of our 2017 report The Knowledge Gap,[40] we have listened to and collaborated

with young people to influence the Welsh Government to improve their responses to children who go missing. According to our most recent figures, 3,500 children went missing almost 12,000 times in 2019/20 in Wales.[41]

Thanks in large part to our lobbying efforts, in December 2022, the Welsh Government announced that it would commission its own research into current arrangements for when children and young people go missing. We contributed to this research in February 2023, sharing young people’s views that return home interviews should be offered to all children who have gone missing in Wales. In its recommendations (published May 2023), the Welsh Parliament’s Children, Young People and Education Committee expressed its support for our call for more consistent provision across Wales and recommended that the Welsh Government respond to concerns that we have raised.[42]

The Children’s Society

2.5. Child poverty

In 2022/23:

24 services that work to address child poverty

206 parents and carers supported through one-to-one and small group work

1,340 children and young people supported through one-to-one and small group work

739 professionals reached by these services

1,017 children and young people

worked with through events (for example, assemblies, workshops)

25,865 young people estimated

as reached through systems change work

Services in this priority area include those that support refugee and migrant young people; provide advocacy and independent visiting services; offer family support; provide housing and crisis support; or support young carers. Note that the number of young people supported reflects those who were supported by services primarily tackling child poverty, not the total number of young people we support who are living in poverty. We are working on a project concerned with estimating the number of young people supported by our services who are living in poverty, which will inform our future work.

What is child poverty?

When a child grows up with limited or no access to the essential resources they need to survive and live a healthy, happy life, this is child poverty. In 2022, essentials like transport, food, electricity, and basic household items all became more expensive and this trend has continued. The cost of living crisis has put thousands of families at risk of being pushed into poverty and created huge additional pressures for families that were already struggling. In May to June 2022, 7 million lowincome households across the UK were reported to be going without at least one essential (such as a warm home, enough food, clothing, or basic toiletries).[43]

What do we know about child poverty?

According to the latest figures, more than 1 in 4 children in the UK are living in poverty.[44] And some young people and their families are more at risk than others – poverty is driven by and drives inequalities. Children living in lone-parent families, for example, are more likely to face poverty, as are those from minoritised communities and children living in larger families.[45] And our experience contradicts the claim that work provides a route out of poverty for many families. In 2021/22, 71% of children growing up in poverty in the UK (after housing costs) lived in a household where at least one person is in employment.[46]

Our impact 2022/23

More than 5,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in the UK in 2022/23, arriving alone and without support.[47] As of the end of 2021, at least 224,576 children under age 18 are expected to have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) in the UK based on their visa status, meaning that they can‘t access most state-funded benefits.[48] It is likely, too, that all these figures significantly underrepresent the reality. As well as this, growing up in poverty can drive future inequalities, as outlined below.

What are the impacts of child poverty?

Living in poverty can put young people at increased risk of a range of issues. It increases the risk of mental health problems and can be both a causal factor and a consequence of mental ill health.[49] Save the Children states that a third of children living in poverty will fall behind with their education; even at the age of five, children in England living in lower income households show significant differences in achievement at school when compared with those from better off households.[50] Minoritised communities may be at particular risk as they often face additional challenges alongside the pressures caused by poverty.[51] And health outcomes in the UK are affected too.[52]

How do we support young people who are dealing with poverty?

Often, we meet children at our services who are seeking support with a particular issue and whose challenges are compounded by living in poverty. None of our areas of work exist in a vacuum, and our responses recognise this.

While most of our services do not specifically offer the kinds of support typically associated with poverty relief, like food parcels or fuel vouchers, the help that we provide frequently helps young people to deal with the physical and psychological challenges associated with living in poverty. We are currently running a research pilot to explore how poverty is a factor within our services and understand how we can better respond to it.

Our Give Hope platform

( givehope.uk ) allows our supporters to donate funds for specific items that young people need like supermarket vouchers, hygiene packs, or education supplies. Our services identify who needs this support and make it happen. Some of these funds are also allocated in partnership with Team Gold, a group of young people who have previously used our services. This year, Team Gold awarded £6,448 in ‘golden tickets’ to 82 young people who are working with our services, enabling them to access essentials like food parcels and wellbeing support like sports memberships.

Our political advocacy and influencing work has made a significant difference too. For example, our #ProtectEveryChildhood campaign and work with other charities contributed to an uprating of benefits in line with inflation. This has supported families to stay afloat, impacting as many as 11.3 million children in families in England, Scotland, and Wales receiving benefits.[53] We also work specifically to address the challenges faced by refugee and migrant children and young people and their families.

The Children’s Society

2.5.1. Supporting families through the cost of living crisis

In 2022/23, the cost of living crisis pushed families to the brink. Incomes and means of financial support aren’t keeping pace with the cost of living, and the pressure on families, parents, carers, and the services that support them has been extreme. Already, more than 1 in 4 children in the UK are living in poverty[54] and it is vital that we act to protect them.

Protecting every childhood

Launched in late 2022, our cross-cutting #ProtectEveryChildhood campaign aimed to support families who were struggling by influencing social norms and attitudes, as well as policies, processes, and networks.

We polled 2,000 parents and carers in the UK to understand the impact of the cost of living crisis on their financial security and how this was affecting their children. Based on our findings, we called on the Government to uprate benefits in line with inflation and help families avoid a real terms cut in income. With many families already struggling to afford the essentials, a lower uprating would have threatened to push thousands of families into poverty across the UK,[55] devastating young people’s wellbeing.

“I have sacrificed everything. I’ve given up colege. My family can’t survive unles I get a job, they ned the money for us to survive.” Young carer

We worked with other charities, including the Trussell Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Save the Children, Child Poverty Action Group, Action for Children, and StepChange, to highlight the impact a limited increase would have had, and mobilised our supporters to raise the issue with their MPs. Collectively, they took 1,178 actions, emailing 590 MPs (which is over 90% of all MPs) and calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to keep his promise via Twitter. Together, we secured benefits being uprated in line with inflation, helping 11.3 million children in families in England, Scotland, and Wales whose benefits will now be uprated.[56]

Our lobbying also secured an increase by inflation to the benefits cap for one year. Our efforts mean that nearly 114,000 families in England, Scotland, and Wales[57] whose benefits were frozen under this cap can now also benefit from the uprating of benefits, and even more families were saved from reaching this cap in the first place.

Our impact 2022/23

Improving support for families

Between April 2022 and March 2023, we coordinated a group of charities for the Strengthen the Safety Net campaign , aiming to bolster local welfare assistance by making the Household Support Fund permanent.

We engaged with politicians and officials by publishing joint briefings and meeting with key officials from the Department for Work and Pensions. And we drew on insights from our Coordinated Crisis Support programme[58] (which worked in Tower Hamlets, Norfolk, Swansea, and Oldham) to make the case for changes to the Household Support Fund guidance, giving local authorities more scope to target need and offer wraparound support. Thanks to our supporters’ efforts, 412 councillors signed a letter to the chancellor asking him to invest in and strengthen the Household Support Fund.

Our work led to the Household Support Fund being extended for a further year, securing an additional £1.5 billion for families in England facing crisis. Removing ring-fencing for pensioners has freed up £140 million to be potentially spent on young people. If all of this was spent on young people, as many as 2.3 million additional families could benefit.[59]

We are continuing to push for permanent funding, but are proud to have helped to secure more than £3 billion in funding for families since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Children’s Society

Naomi’s story

Naomi has been living on her own since she was 16. Until recently, she had always had enough but as the cost of living crisis worsened, everything changed. She felt suffocated with the stress, panicking about how she was going to survive each month. She simply didn’t have enough to cover the basics.

That’s when she turned to her support worker, Tina, at The Children’s Society for help. Naomi felt embarrassed about needing to ask for support and it took a lot of courage to admit she was struggling. But Tina reassured her. She told Naomi about Give Hope, a pot of money that young people can apply to for things they need. Naomi applied for a supermarket gift voucher and used it to feed herself for a month.

“The Children’s Society has always ben there for me. They have ben the one constant in my life.”

Naomi

For Naomi, asking for help was difficult but how Tina spoke to her really influenced what the experience was like – the bad feelings Naomi was having about herself disappeared. There was less weight on her shoulders. Naomi feels grateful that her problem was resolved, but she wants others to know that change is needed, now. No one should be forced to choose between keeping warm and keeping a roof over their head.

Our impact 2022/23

2.5.2. Advocating for refugee and migrant children

233 children and young people supported

through one-to-one support and small group work in our refugee and migrant services.

When young refugees arrive in the UK, they can face huge challenges. After long, often harrowing journeys to an unfamiliar country, they are faced with a complex and potentially retraumatising immigration process. Sometimes, they arrive alone, without knowing the language or how things work, and it can be difficult for them to access the essentials like food or housing. Through services like Helping Further (explored below), as well as our EU Settlement Scheme programme and Appropriate Adult provision, we offer a range of support to children and families.

Support for children and their families

Helping Further is funded by Islamic Relief and works in the West Midlands. We offer legal advice and advocacy, helping families to secure their immigration status and other rights and to access housing, healthcare, opportunities to socialise, and financial support. In 2022/23, our immigration advice drop-ins helped 934 people from 274 families – twice the number of people anticipated, showing the real need for work in this area.

We also supported 37 families experiencing destitution this year, including their 87 young dependents, helping them to access public funds and receive waivers from immigration visa fees. Shockingly, the immigration visa application process can cost at least £7,054 for a family of three.[60] We also observe families being charged more than £1,000 in legal fees. The families we work with often have essential expenditure of more than £2,000 per month, and many are forced into debt to cover these fees and basic expenses. For a family that faces all these costs, we estimate that our work can stop them going nearly £20,000 further into debt over six months.

We have also continued to work to change systems, partnering with voluntary organisations like Brushstrokes, Praxis, and The Unity Project, and sharing knowledge about the immigration and asylum processes. Alongside this, our six-year partnership with Wahegru Foundation helped us to provide Christmas gifts this year for more than 20 families who have been supported by Helping Further, as well as more families across our other services in the Midlands.

The Children’s Society

Boosting access to the essentials

We have seen success in our efforts to make sure that children and young people with no recourse to public funds receive free school meals . Our campaigning in the early days of the pandemic led to these children temporarily being eligible for free school meals – but we knew that wasn’t enough. So, 18,000 of our supporters wrote to the then Education Secretary in August 2021 calling for access to free school meals to be made permanent for this group, and we continued to lobby for this until it was confirmed in April 2022 – a significant campaigning win which we estimate will benefit around 224,500 children who have no recourse to public funds in the UK.[61] Since this change was confirmed, in 2022/23, we have been making sure that this is implemented properly, writing to local authorities and schools and running a session for 84 schools on how to identify eligible children and young people.

Empowering young people to create change

The Youth-led Commission on Separated Children (YLCSC) is a group of young people who all arrived in the UK as minors and were supported by The Children’s Society. Now, they use their experiences of the asylum and social care systems to fight for improved support for unaccompanied young asylum seekers and refugees – in particular, they’re campaigning for every unaccompanied young person to receive a legal guardian to help them understand their rights and navigate the immigration process.

In June 2022, the YLCSC members helped to create our Society newsletter,[62] to mark refugee week. The newsletter is shared with 142,000 supporters and the YLCSC’s articles focused on sharing their experiences and what they believe needs to change. They also took part in a podcast about systems change created by The Children’s Society, which was shared with 15,000 of the charity’s supporters.[63]

“The imigration system makes it hard for young people to heal. The Children’s Society knows that we ned time to proces what has happened to us.”

YLCSC member

A big win this year has been the Home Office incorporating and piloting the YLCSC’s suggestions for how to improve young people’s asylum interviews. Refreshed training has now been provided to the Home Office’s businessembedded trainers and they are working internally to map out a delivery plan. These changes will represent a big change in how children are supported.

In June 2022, the YLCSC put their case for guardianship support to the Children’s Commissioner for England, followed by the Supporting Refugee and Asylum Seekers Conference in January 2023, the UNCRC in February, and the Commission for the Integration of Refugees in March. Thanks to this influencing in 2022/23, the UNCRC has since included the call for independent guardians in their recommendations to the UK Government, a fantastic result for the YLCSC’s tireless campaigning.[64]

Our impact 2022/23

Looking forward

Since July 2021, the Home Office has placed unaccompanied children seeking asylum in hotels rather than directly into local authority care, putting them outside the UK’s child protection and welfare frameworks. We have warned repeatedly that these children face significant risks – our chief executive met directly with a Home Office minister to express our concerns.

In January 2023, news broke that more than 200 young asylum seekers had been reported as missing from Home Office hotel placements. We acted as advocates during age assessments for 22 unaccompanied young asylum seekers who had been placed in hotels, joined a public statement and sector letter, wrote a parliamentary briefing, and more. In 2023/24, we will continue to push to make sure that children seeking asylum receive the protections they need.

We also continued to work on the Nationality and Borders Bill, which was passed in late April 2022. During the final stages, we called for a specific amendment that would protect child victims of modern slavery and exploitation more effectively, rallying more than 1,400 of our supporters to write to their MPs. While the amendment did not pass in its entirety, we did succeed in getting the Government to exclude children from the negative impacts of one of the bill’s provisions. After the bill was passed, we continued to engage with the Home Office and updated our practitioners. In March 2023, the Government tabled the Illegal Migration Bill, and we will continue to work with our partners in 2023/24 to make sure young people’s voices are heard and their rights protected at all stages.

The Children’s Society

Musa’s story

Musa arrived in the UK when he was 17, alone and frightened. He had been forced to leave his home country quickly and had nothing but his identity papers with him. Not knowing what to do, he went to the police station and social services were called. They supported him to claim asylum, appointed a social worker for him, and found Musa a place to stay in a local hostel. He enrolled in his local college and was starting to build a new life – but poor legal advice meant that his application for asylum failed.

Musa’s hostel told him about a youth club run by one of The Children’s Society’s refugee and migrant support services. There, he met one of our project workers, who supported him to find the right legal representation. He made friends, too, and found a network of support. Within months, he had been granted the right to remain in the UK.

Today, Musa is a qualified barrister and plans to specialise in immigration law. He wants to go to work every day knowing that he can help people, and he’s also part of a campaigning group that is calling for independent guardians, who will provide consistent support for unaccompanied children that arrive in the UK.

“It’s because of The Children’s Society that I am here today.” Musa

Our impact 2022/23

3. Our future plans

We have big plans for the next two years, as we continue to step up the fight for a society that works for all children and reverse the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing. This year, we developed our theory of change, allowing us to align our resources effectively with our vision and objectives. We are currently working on our impact measurement framework, with the goal of better capturing, understanding, and reporting on our impact – as well as using this to inform our future work. We are working continuously to evolve our approach to impact so that it is as effective as possible and know that this is a multi-year journey, as is our path towards our goal. We are committed to remaining flexible and agile, so that we can respond to changing external contexts and meet children’s needs at every stage.

----- Start of picture text -----
Our objective Intended outcomes
We will work with 1. There is an active, growing network of external
children and young strategic partners, speaking as one and driving
people (and others change in response to the decline in children and
who support them) young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
to create meaningful,
2. We have co-designed an open access, early
innovative ways
intervention wellbeing service with young people,
to respond to the
and will be launching the pilot in Newham in 2023,
early signs of low
with a view to scaling the service nationally in the
wellbeing.
coming years.
3. A national government children’s strategy
(including a measure of children and young
people’s wellbeing) is in place.
4. We have improved accessibility for ongoing
emotional wellbeing support to improve long-term
wellbeing in children and young people, aligned
with our anti-racist practice aspirations.
----- End of picture text -----

The Children’s Society

We will actively 1. We have a balance of risk services aligned to and challenge and change measured through our impact framework. ineffective systems 2. We will continue to collaborate to influence the
that fail to protect implementation of all the recommendations for
children from abuse child victims of child sexual abuse identified in
and harm.
We will continue to collaborate to influence the implementation of all the recommendations for child victims of child sexual abuse identified in IICSA’s report.
Through a youth-informed approach, we will have influenced the direction of the outcomes of the Care Review.
A comprehensive network of key strategic partners is in place to establish an effective and integrated response to protect young people from abuse and harm.
The Children’s Society identifies, encourages, and consolidates good practice across the sector, facilitated through our networks.

We will fight to reduce child poverty, influencing policy and decision makers to make change happen.

Our poverty work is youth-influenced and research- and evidence-based.
We have nurtured and strengthened strategic partnerships to bring about long-term change.
We are a model employer to support any our people who may be experiencing hardship.
We have impacted poverty through advocacy and improved access to services and support.
We have strengthened awareness to professionals of policy change to reduce poverty in their communities.

We will inspire and grow the community of people, uniting to achieve our shared vision.

The voices and needs of children are being prioritised in key policy changes.
Young people are heard and valued through positive social conversations.
Positive consideration of The Children’s Society has grown.
More supporters are taking more action through The Children’s Society.
The Children’s Society is operating a surplus budget as our income grows exponentially yearon-year.

Our impact 2022/23

We will transform into 1. The Children’s Society’s theory of change and one united TeamTCS impact framework are active, with all activities where we each feel aligned to deliver against our impact priorities. equipped, valued, 2. We have delivered positive impact against our
and supported. people experience framework and are creating the right conditions for all people to feel included and to thrive.
We have financial stability and a long-term plan for growth and sustainability.
We have the right skills in the right roles at the right time to be able to deliver our strategy.
All practice across the organisation is safe and delivered to a high standard.

The Children’s Society

Our key performance indicators

We use a selection of key performance indicators to track our progress against our strategic objectives. This table presents our progress this year in comparison to our targets for 2022/23, as well as our past performance in 2021/22. We have used these metrics alongside our future goals and known commitments to set targets for 2023/24.

Figure 8. Actual and target key performance indicators for years 2021 to 2024.

----- Start of picture text -----
2021/22 2022/2023 2022/2023 2023/24
Impact plan KPIs
actual target actual target
Our work with young people
Directly impacted 55,494 57,500 63,779 51,274
young people
Systems reach [†] 738,220 565,250 863,555 259,210
No. of policy impacts [† †] 9,057,570 400,000 14,081,576 400,000
No. of young people 3,596 3,500 3,410 3,500
providing insight in
young participation
activities^
Growing our supporter base
Number of active 127,000 142,400 135,580 130,000
supporters
Brand consideration^^ n/a 45% 17.8% 19%
In-year billing of £11,853 £11,100 £12,613 £12,500
restricted income
(£,000s)
Gross unrestricted 27,195 £27,100 £26,982 £28,801
income (£,000s)
----- End of picture text -----*

We have used metrics of indirect reach to guide our strategy, but we recognise they are estimates that are based on assumptions and approximations. We will be reviewing and improving upon these metrics as part of our project to develop an impact measurement framework.

** This refers to the number of young people directly supported by our services, through one-to-one support, small group work or through events like assemblies or workshops. Commissioned contracts require fewer events in the coming year, leading to a reduction in the number of directly impacted young people on 2022-23. Our extended target is 57,427 young people impacted.

† This refers to the number of young people we estimate will be impacted by our systems change work, which is calculated as the number of professionals we worked with multiplied by 35, which we estimate to be an approximate average number of young people that professionals across different sectors meet through their work. Our target is a conservative reach figure based on expected activity. However, additional invites to events and/ or involvement in as yet unscheduled campaigns could increase this figure significantly.

† † This measure may be replaced once the impact framework is finalised and in place.

^ For 2022/23, this metric is a total of all attendees across 376 youth participation activities. Some young people may have participated in multiple events, and therefore it is possible that some individual young people are counted twice.

^^ Brand consideration looks at how many of those people who are aware of an organisation would consider donating to an organisation.

Our impact 2022/23

4. Financial review

The financial year ending 31 March 2023 represents the first full year performance which has been free from the direct impacts of Covid-19 and the organisation has been able to see how the business model performs in a post Covid-19 world. The war in Ukraine, the rate of inflation, and the cost of living crisis brought new challenges to navigate, as well as difficult market conditions for investments. Despite this, retail performed very well, as did legacy income. This helped total income increase to £43.4 million (2022: £36.7 million). Expenditure also increased but was contained within budget despite cost rises to £40.0 million (2022: £37.9 million).

This represents a net operating gain of £3.4 million (2022: £1.2 million deficit) before any finance costs or other gains and losses. This was a great achievement, as the net operating surplus was able to sufficiently cover the investment losses, allowing a net surplus of £2.6 million (2022: £1.04 million).

The Children’s Society

4.1. Income

The Children’s Society has continued to benefit from the generosity of individuals, businesses, and charitable bodies. Details of the amounts received in grants are shown in note 24 to the accounts; corporate sponsors of The Children’s Society are listed in our ‘thank you’ list at the end of this report.

Legacy income doubled this year with £10.8 million (2022: £5.3 million), representing an increase of £5.5 million (2022: increase £0.98 million). These donations are acts of generosity from supporters and we are still experiencing some delays with the probate office. We continue to appreciate the potential for legacy income to fluctuate but remain confident that it will remain a solid source of income over the near future.

Retail sales generated £11.3 million in the year, and just under £12 million when we include the related gift aid attributed to retail sales. This is a £1.34 million increase from prior year (2022: £9.9 million). This was a direct result of our retail network’s continued efforts to build on the full year of trading in the previous year. Our retail shops can only run with the help of committed volunteers who are led by professional management. Together, they provide a local link in over 100 towns and cities across England and Wales. The number of The Children’s Society retail shops was 104 shops (2022: 102).

This year, our income from our unique Christingle events generated £0.73 million (2022: £0.54 million) while our dedicated house box groups gave us £0.98m from their collections (2022: £1.2 million). Other donations which include gift aid increased to £6.6m

(2022: £6.3 million). Although the donations remain lower compared to a few years ago, our supporter base remains committed and strong in continuing to support The Children’s Society into the future.

Government grants this year were nil (2022: £0.2 million). Last year represented the final grants in relation to the furlough scheme.

Income from charitable activities was slightly higher than last year, bringing in £12.85 million (2022: £12.7 million). This income is used to continue to deliver critical services to young people using a variety of approaches. These include digital resources and using youth voice to help advocate and push for changes in governmental and societal systems. Contract funding is provided by national and local government, police and crime commissioners, and the NHS. Our grant income has continued to benefit from the long-standing relationship with the Big Lottery Fund as we have continued with our national programme to disrupt child exploitation and improving our digital capabilities in our practice base. We continue to adopt virtual and online interactions with young people in our practice work alongside traditional methods as part of a blended offer that we continuously aim to improve.

4.2. Expenditure

Our biggest item of expenditure is staff costs. These were £24.98 million (2022: £24.1 million). Our payroll costs have increased from last year by £0.8 million or 3.4%, in direct correlation with our increase in the average number of full-time equivalent staff employed throughout the year. More details can be seen in

Our impact 2022/23

note 10 in the accounts. We also made a one-off payment of £500 in January 2023 to every employee on payroll to assist them through the winter and peak of inflation.

We continue to invest in our supporter engagement, community fundraising and the direct costs of fundraising slightly increased by £0.2 million to £4.9 million (2022: £4.7 million). This expenditure allows us to attract new supporters and provide new innovative fundraising solutions to our existing supporter base. The direct cost of the retail network increased to £9.04 million (2022: £8.57 million), which was a combination of inflationary costs and an increase in retail activity in line with the increase in income. Retail was able to produce a £2.3 million contribution towards the organisation’s activities before allocating support costs and excluding gift aid donations, representing a 20.2% gross margin (2022: £1.42 million, 14% gross margin).

The direct cost of providing support to young people decreased from last year by £0.66 million to £11.6 million (2022: £12.3 million). Direct costs of changing governmental and societal systems reduced by £0.1 million to £5.1 million (2021: £5.2 million).

Support and governance costs are higher than the prior year at £9.36m (2022: £7.1 million). Within support costs, we have continued to invest in our organisational design, as well as our information systems. This will support greater organisational effectiveness and agility to help us deliver our strategy and 2030 goal.

4.3. Fixed assets

During the year we have continued to invest in appropriate technology across the whole organisation. We undertook a review of asset classification and introduced an intangible assets category for software developments.

4.4. Investments

At 31 March 2023, The Children’s Society held £39.5 million of investments (2022: £41.7 million) comprising general and endowment funds invested in a well-diversified range of short to long-term investments, as well as investment land and buildings. The investment market strategy is to mitigate risk by diversifying the portfolio across several investment managers, who themselves are investing in a diverse range of assets. A significant proportion of these are intentionally inversely correlated in their risk profile. Last year was a difficult year in the markets for most investments and this led to a loss of £0.8 million (2022: £2.3 million gain). We were also able to complete the sale of one of our investment properties for £1.411 million. This was part of our deliberate strategy to reduce the number of properties directly owned by the organisation, as opposed to being held in diversified collective investments.

The Children’s Society

4.5. Cash and working capital

We continue to manage our working capital effectively, ensuring that we pay suppliers within the terms agreed and collecting debts on a timely basis. The Children’s Society’s funded work is paid for mainly by local and national government agencies and therefore represents a low credit risk.

Our operational activities increased our use of cash with a negative generation of £0.49 million (2022: £1.28 million positive generation). The main reason for this negative cash generation even though the organisation made a surplus was down to an increase in debtors, decrease in creditors, investment loss, and a decrease in our liability provision. We also continue to hold some highly liquid investments should our cashflow patterns change suddenly.

4.6. Reserves

Unrestricted funds

The trustees consider that the organisation’s unrestricted general reserves are appropriate for the challenging external environment and for our aspirations to grow significantly. At the 31 March 2023, the Group’s general funds were £21.3 million which equates to approximately six months expenditure.

Trustees have considered and stress tested a series of scenarios focused around the following risks:

annual variability in unrestricted income (excluding legacies)
legacy income fluctuations inflationary impacts
structural deficits and re-aligning our cost base to short- and medium-term income expectations
reshaping costs
adjusting strategy whilst experiencing income decline
maintaining sufficient working capital headroom
reputational damage
defined benefit pension scheme funding liability.

These stress tests confirm that our unrestricted general funds at 31 March 2023 sit in the middle of our target range, which reflects the uncertainties inherent in the external environment, together with the imperative to support continued momentum as we aspire to reverse the damaging decline in young people’s wellbeing.

These reserves will support the investment needed as the organisation gears up for a period of growth over the coming years, cover the planned budget deficit for the current year, and – most importantly – provide resilience and continuity of services to children and young people in the face of any unexpected shocks.

Our impact 2022/23

Designated funds

At the year end, The Children’s Society holds two designated funds. During the year, we held a designated property fund, a strategy fund, and an impact fund.

The designated funds have increased to £13.02 million (2022: £10.7 million). The property fund reflects the current net book value of the tangible and intangible fixed assets. These assets are to be used to help the organisation achieves its mission and 2030 goal.

The balance of the designated strategy fund has been transferred into the unrestricted general fund.

The impact fund was created last year to enhance our strategic ambition by funding innovative pilots and projects for which traditional forms of funding are unavailable. In the current year, with Charity Commission approval, we transferred £4.5 million of historic gains from two of our endowments into the impact fund. These funds will be used to deliver sustainable impact for young people in line with the original purpose of the endowments. The balance of the impact fund at the end of the year was £7.9 million (2022: £3.5 million).

Restricted funds

Restricted funds represent the unspent amounts arising from donations and grants where the activity funded is more specific than the general purposes of The Children’s Society. At 31 March 2023, the value of these funds was £1.3 million (2022: £0.9 million).

Endowment funds

Endowment funds represent the value of assets donated to The Children’s Society from which the income may be spent while the underlying capital is maintained. The funds are invested in a portfolio of investments whose value at 31 March 2023 was £12.5 million (2022: £17.5 million). As part of our financial strategy, we are unlocking funds from the endowment portfolio, with Charity Commission approval, to support investments in impact for young people.

Pension reserve

The pension reserve reflects the long-term liability of The Children’s Society to meet the deficit in its final salary pension schemes, calculated in accordance with FRS 102, and does not take account of a surplus on any scheme. As permitted by the Charity SORP, this commitment is shown as a separate, negative reserve, equal in value to the net pension deficit of £0.02 million.

The Children’s Society

5. Governance structure and management

5.1 Legal status and objectives

The Church of England Children’s Society (The Children’s Society) is a company limited by guarantee and a charity registered in England and Wales. Our organisation was established in 1881 and incorporated in 1893. It is governed by its articles of association, which set out our principal objective – to care for and support children and young people in need across the country, whether material, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or otherwise.

5.2

The trustees have a duty to report on how our organisation’s charitable objective has been carried out for the public benefit and to follow the guidance from the Charity Commission on the provision of public benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2011. This duty is fulfilled by the content of this report.

The children and young people we work with are struggling with the challenges affecting their mental and physical wellbeing, often in multiple areas of their life. Their needs are urgent. They face huge risks to their safety and wellbeing, and the resources they need to flourish may be compromised or even absent.

For this reason, we prioritise our work according to these young people’s needs, so that we can have the maximum positive impact and bring about lasting change for them.

Understanding and measuring our impact is vitally important in making sure we achieve our vision of a society built for all children. Our annual Good Childhood Report helps us measure our progress towards our goal: to overturn the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing by 2030.

5.3 Governance and management

5.3.1. Young trustees

Our young trustees are young people from across the country who have previously accessed our direct services through one-to-one support, group work, or participation groups. Although they do not hold the legal status formally assigned to other trustees, they otherwise have equal status on the board in terms of discussions and decisions. As well as attending board meetings, young trustees also support the organisation in other ways, depending on their interests, and make a significant contribution to The Children’s Society’s work.

The young trustees meet regularly as a group. To prepare for board meetings, they invite members of the executive and senior leadership teams to have focused discussions with them. This year, the involvement included contributing to crucial organisational developments like our theory of change, impact measurement framework, equality, diversity, and inclusion projects, and work on apprenticeships.

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The young trustees continue to be involved in recruitment for key senior leadership roles, including this year the chair of the board of trustees, our executive director of Youth Impact, head of safeguarding and quality practice, and national director of youth practice. They have created content for and edited our February Society newsletter,[65] offering a window into their work as young trustees. This was distributed to 144,000 of our supporters.

Our young trustees have continually been involved in amplifying their messages through blogs, podcasts, and public speaking, including at Good Childhood Report events in Chester, London, and Birmingham. Their voices are central to what we do and they influence work across the organisation at all levels.

5.3.2. Section 172 (1) Statement

All charitable companies have a responsibility to act in accordance with Section 172 of the UK Companies Act 2006 (‘the duty to promote the success of a company’).

The board of trustees confirm that during the year under review, they have acted in the way that they consider, in good faith, has complied with their duties in Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 by promoting the charity’s success in achieving its charitable purpose.

The board of trustees considers the matters set out in Section 172(1) (a) to (f) of the 2006 Act in all its discussions and decision-making, which includes:

The likely long-term consequences of decisions

Over the past year, the trustees have taken key decisions to support the achievement of our charitable objectives and to help achieve our ambitious goal to have overturned the damaging decline in children’s wellbeing by 2030. Further detail around how we achieved our objectives can be found on page 18 and on our future plans on page 55.

The interests of our employees, our business relationships and conduct, and acting fairly

Trustees have regard to the interests of our employees and volunteers and the need to foster business relationships with key stakeholders, service users, beneficiaries, funders, and the wider community. During the year:

Our employees were kept up to date with regular updates provided by the CEO and executive leadership team, as well as trustees attending and presenting at live sessions.
We conducted the first joint employee and volunteer culture and experience survey, Your Voice.
We produced a pay gap report and pay and grading review.

Further information can be found on pages 18 and 70.

Our impact on the community and the environment

Trustees and the executive leadership team are committed to conducting the charity in a responsible, sustainable way to protect both people and plant. Further information can be found on page 74.

The Children’s Society

The desirability to maintain a reputation for high standards of business conduct

Trustees acknowledge their responsibility for setting and monitoring the values, strategy, vision, and reputation of the charity. Further information can be found within our mission, vision, and values section on page 14 and our future plans on page 55.

5.3.3. The board of trustees

The board of trustees are the charity’s trustees and the legal directors of the company. Members of the board of trustees serve a four-year term, after which they are eligible for a further four-year term. In exceptional circumstances, a trustee may serve an additional year to make sure that appropriate succession is in place.

The board is responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the organisation, making sure the charity upholds its ethos and values and delivers its objectives. The trustees delegate operational management to the executive leadership team, which is accountable to the board for its stewardship of the charity. The chief executive and executive leadership team attend board and committee meetings.

We appoint trustees through a transparent and rigorous recruitment and selection process. Young trustees participate in this, and their assessments are an integral part of the decision making. Hearing and engaging with young people’s voices is at the heart of our governance. This year, we recruited one new trustee, the chair of the board. We

also recruited one new independent committee member to sit on one of our board committees.

We provide a comprehensive induction programme for new appointees, tailored to their areas of expertise. This includes meeting the executive leadership team, completing mandatory training (including on safeguarding), engaging with staff and volunteers, and visiting frontline services and our shops. More information on engagement with staff and volunteers can be found in section 5.7 below, and on engagement with other stakeholders in section 5.8.

Our trustees have a wide range of skills, knowledge, and experience – essential to good governance. We keep the balance of expertise under review, including during the recruitment process. Collectively, the board must demonstrate responsible leadership and judgement. We have a dedicated safeguarding trustee who holds extensive experience and knowledge in relation to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

We expect our trustees, committee members, chief executive, and executive leadership team to behave with the utmost integrity and professionalism, consistently demonstrating their commitment to the goals and values of The Children’s Society. All our trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no rewards or benefits from The Children’s Society.

The board met both physically and virtually during the year, including four formal meetings, two board strategy and development days, and several ad hoc meetings to keep trustees informed. They are also expected to

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complete regular training on matters like safeguarding, data protection, and cyber security. Trustees who served during the year are listed on page 113, together with information about their membership of committees and meeting attendance.

5.4 Delegation and committees

The board maintains a written schedule of matters reserved for the board of trustees and committees, which clearly defines specific areas for delegation. The terms of reference for each committee are reviewed annually and they report back to the board on a regular basis.

The Finance and Investment Committee is responsible for the charity’s financial strategy and performance, making sure its resources are properly and appropriately applied to its key objectives. It oversees the charity’s investments, managing them so that they underpin the charity’s strategic objectives. The committee is responsible for safeguarding the charity’s assets and making sure we have sufficient reserves.

The Organisational Development Committee is responsible for overseeing all matters concerned with effective governance of The Children’s Society. The committee supports the chief executive in building and sustaining a successful leadership team and guides and monitors the effectiveness of people policies.

The Risk, Audit, and Compliance Committee is responsible for giving the board assurances on the effectiveness of the internal controls, the adequacy of our risk management processes, and the internal control

environment. It also receives external audit annual reporting. It considers any significant issues that arise and monitors and reviews safeguarding and health and safety. This includes the implementation of and compliance with policies. The committee also oversees all systems, controls, and processes, making sure that we’re able to meet our objectives.

5.5 Modern slavery

Modern slavery is a significant global human rights issue. It includes human trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced and bonded labour, domestic servitude, and child labour. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all of our relationships by taking every reasonable opportunity to act within our direct operations and wider sphere of influence to make sure that slavery and human trafficking does not take place in the charity’s operations.

Modern slavery can be hard to spot and is often hidden in plain sight. We recognise that there are risks of modern slavery in our supply chains for all types of goods and services. This risk is low due to our relatively small-scale supply chains and the controls and systems we have in place. However, a risk does remain, and the policies and procedures outlined below help us mitigate this. We are satisfied that we are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We work to tackle exploitation, abuse, and trafficking faced by young people. In this work, we know we will encounter situations of modern slavery. Our policies and procedures, including procurement, whistleblowing, and recruitment, are critical in delivering a robust, safe, and ethical response.

The Children’s Society

In line with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, we published our Modern Slavery Statement for this financial year ( childrenssociety.org.uk/organisational-policies ). This includes examples of modern slavery that we encounter in the work that we do.

5.6 Principal risks and uncertainties

The trustees are responsible for ensuring that the charity maintains comprehensive risk management systems and that appropriate actions are taken to manage and mitigate risks. The Risk, Audit, and Compliance Committee monitors and reviews these risk management arrangements and reports to the board of trustees on their ongoing effectiveness.

Our formal risk management strategy provides a robust framework for developing the corporate risk

register and managing risk across the charity. The Children’s Society has an established system of internal controls governing all its operations. These are designed to provide a reasonable level of assurance against the risk of error, fraud, and inappropriate or ineffective use of organisational resources.

The outsourced internal audit function reviews the corporate risk register to make sure audits are correctly focused. They evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of our checks and controls and report to our trustees via the Risk, Audit, and Compliance Committee.

We pay particular attention to mitigating safeguarding risks – protecting children and young people is central to all we do. This and other principal risks identified within the corporate risk register are:

Principal risk

A child or adult at risk comes to serious harm as the result of poor safeguarding practice by a staff member, student on placement, or volunteer.

Examples of mitigating actions include:

review of safeguarding training as part of review of Youth Impact domain learning and development offer
ongoing development and refinement of safeguarding dashboard, including information on volunteers
implementation of organisation-wide safeguarding risk register
safeguarding volunteer audit (Youth Impact domain focus).

The cost of living crisis, exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, Brexit, and the war in Ukraine, increases child poverty and restricts our ability to generate funds and resource our charity.

monitoring the external environment and its impact on young people and supporters

monitoring the effectiveness of our support approaches, adapting as needed to optimise support.

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The Children’s Society is unable to sufficiently grow income from its new strategic approach to address the decline from historic fundraising activities.

executive leadership team and trustee task and finish group to develop 2030 growth and investment plan
income modelling and pipeline approach, incorporating full portfolio (unrestricted and restricted income) and strategic funding plans (including service plans and geographical priorities)
recruiting major appeal director and securing appeal consultancy.

Our organisation resilience and stability is at risk, particularly as we respond to an ever-changing landscape (strategically and operationally), which impacts our ability to attract and retain talent, skills, and capability.

people experience framework in place that looks at entire employee experience journey and focuses on retention
use of MI and data to drive insight and progress and manage risk effectively
evaluation of induction process
review of attraction and recruitment approaches and impact on candidate experience
capability and development needs for leadership team to be developed
strategic workforce planning for the organisation
review of flexible working arrangements and impact on organisational capacity and utilisation
analysis of turnover to identify reasons for leaving and actions to be taken to mitigate this.
review total reward package.

External labour market and inability to effectively recruit impacts restricted and unrestricted income funding drawdown, as well as operational and reputational risk.

domain recruitment reviews and analysis
implementation of pay and grading review
employee value proposition and careers site update to promote The Children’s Society as a great place to work
workforce planning for all teams at The Children’s Society
succession planning in place for all teams at The Children’s Society
review of hiring process and systems.

The Children’s Society

5.7 Our people

5.7.1. Equity, diversity, and inclusion

This year we have continued to make progress in our equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) goals, including::

releasing our first diversity and gender pay gap report, sharing information on intersectionality
offering anti-racism training through our provider, Solve, which has been completed by more than 500 employees and which we continue to evolve (for example, by introducing new training on moving towards conscious inclusion)
sharing an anti-racist practice statement of intent,[66] setting out the commitment of the Youth Impact domain to progress and champion anti-racist practice in all that we do
releasing new policies and reviewing existing ones where necessary, like our dignity at work policy.

We were delighted to be awarded the bronze Tide award for our work within EDI across The Children’s Society.

5.7.2. Growing TeamTCS

We have a responsibility to support our team to learn and grow and remain committed to providing TeamTCS with opportunities for development. To this end, this year we conducted our first joint employee and volunteer culture and experience survey. Called Your Voice, the survey measured engagement and progress against our people experience framework. 75% of employees and 18% of volunteers took part in the survey, with engagement levels of 82% and 89% respectively, and we

received two externally recognised awards for our engagement results.

We have improved our internal communications offering, introducing line manager briefing sessions to share essential information and improving technology and accessibility in our TCS Live broadcasts. Our regular Spotlight sessions offer further opportunity for TeamTCS to grow together.

We have continued to strengthen our learning and development offering for staff. This has included launching our management development programme (Compass), continuous improvement learning, conscious inclusion training, a learning and development course catalogue (SteppingStones), and a performance management cycle aligned to our strategic objectives. Across the year, we have delivered a total of 168 learning and development courses (52 unique courses), with 2,330 people attending training in person, 57 courses accessed via Learning Zone, and 774 individually accessed courses (Learning Zone).

We advertised 441 vacancies across the year, hiring 308 new members of TeamTCS. 219 people left the organisation. We have recruited 22 new apprentices from within the organisation across four standards: operations manager, level 5; retail manager, level 4; HR consultant partner, level 5; and associate project manager, level 4. 14 apprentices graduated from our scheme, continuing in their roles.

Our investment in apprenticeships helps us to bridge skills gaps and develop future talent, providing specific skills and knowledge in areas of expertise needed by the organisation (for example, project

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management and fundraising). It also creates career pathways for team members, enabling future promotion and progression.

Growing and sustaining our organisation to make sure we can continue to be here for children and young people is one of our main strategic deliverables, and it is vital that we provide the right conditions for every member of TeamTCS to feel included, grow, and thrive.

5.7.3. Volunteers

In 2022/23, volunteering activity continued to pick up after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. Around 4,000 people volunteered with us, including 300 new volunteers, and over 1,800 retail volunteers helped to raise £12 million for children and young people. More than 1,000 house box coordinators and over 800 committee members also raised vital funds, and speakers and ambassadors across the country delivered talks and presentations, helping people to understand the importance of our work and vision.

We have made good progress in embedding our people experience framework across our volunteering activity. This work will continue into 2023/24 as we develop and embed our volunteer plan, building on the efforts made this year to get the basics right. We have done this by supporting volunteer managers through the migration of volunteer data to our Dynamics software. Consistent record keeping allows us to make sure our volunteers have the support, training, and guidance they need to thrive in their roles and stay safe. Our Beehive system allows us to make sure that record keeping, compliance activity, and quality

assurance processes are happening in relation to Youth Impact volunteers in particular.

Through our Your Voice survey, we have been able to hear the voice of our volunteers. 18% of volunteers completed the survey, with an engagement score of 89%, and we were pleased by the results. 98% of volunteers who responded said they enjoyed volunteering at The Children’s Society, and 95% that their contribution is valued and respected. 94% feel they can bring their true self to their role and 87% said their ideas and opinions are listened to – 33% higher than the sector benchmark. Based on the survey results, we plan to take action in 2023/24 by: reviewing our learning and development offer for volunteers; improving our communications to volunteers about what is happening at The Children’s Society; and improving volunteer wellbeing. We also hope to improve participation rates for our volunteers.

We have worked towards inspiring leadership too by refreshing the guidance available on the volunteer managers hub and establishing a volunteer managers knowledge group. This allows a forum to share updates and signpost to guidance and provides a platform for peer discussion and problem solving. Our management development programme allows volunteer managers to develop their core leadership skills as well.

Through Volunteers Week celebrations in June and local recognition, we have aimed to make sure that our volunteers feel valued as part of TeamTCS, and we are looking forward to completing a full review of our recognition and wellbeing schemes over the next year.

The Children’s Society

5.7.4. Remuneration

We remain committed to providing fair, equitable pay for our employees and benchmark our pay structure against other charities for this reason. The Living Wage Foundation’s principles underpin our pay structure and trustees oversee the pay, pensions, and benefits of the chief executive and the executive leadership team.

This year, we began an organisationwide review of all pay structures, responding to the new economic landscape we find ourselves in postpandemic and the challenges this poses for all charitable organisations. This included an external review of executive pay and benefits to make sure that we remain competitive and retain key talent – as a result, a corrective pay award was made to all members of our executive leadership team, equivalent to pay rises for other staff, in recognition that the executive team led by example during a time of cost pressure and had not received any pay increase for three years. We will update our executive pay principles and policy in conjunction with the organisation-wide review and associated implementation, which will continue in 2023/24.

The annual pay review was awarded in April 2022. This saw an increase to our benchmarked pay grades of 2% and an additional individual award of 3% for all eligible employees. As at 31 March 2023, our chief executive’s annual salary was £131,160. In recognition of this year’s financial challengesand the pressures of increased living costs, we have worked to support our lowest paid earners and provide enhancements to salaries, including:

providing an early application of the living wage recommendations, uplifting pay rates in November 2022, instead of the usual application in April each year
providing an additional cost of living payment of £500 in January 2023 to all employees
enhancing our financial wellbeing support with webinars and surveys to make sure our support remains relevant and effective.

5.8. Supporter engagement and fundraising

The last year has been challenging for all of us, and we are so grateful to our supporters for their continued generosity and commitment despite these circumstances. They allow us to be here for young people and work for change, and every contribution they make has real impact.

Our voluntary income comes from a wide range of sources. Individuals give regular or one-off cash contributions. Groups raise funds by taking part in challenge events locally, online, and abroad. Some people donate to and buy things from our shops, while others make gifts in their wills. We also partner with professional funders, commissioners, companies, trusts, and foundations.

These are just a few examples of the amazing support we receive from people across the UK. Every interaction we have with our supporters is guided by our Supporter Promise to:

keep our supporters up to date in ways that work for them
always treat people respectfully and sensitively
meet or exceed fundraising and data protection standards.

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We comply with the voluntary Fundraising Regulator regulation scheme and align our fundraising policies and practices with the fundraising code of conduct. We also follow all related legislation and marketing regulations. The majority of our fundraising activity is led by employees and volunteers, though we have also worked with partner agencies to deliver fundraising appeals and other projects. We monitor any fundraising undertaken on our behalf, and our external partners must comply with the Fundraising Regulator’s regulation scheme and our Supporter Promise.

Offering a positive experience for everyone who fundraises for us, works with us, or supports us is of paramount importance. Our approach, policies, and standards aim to protect vulnerable people and other members of the public from inappropriate behaviour and we continuously learn from what we do, always with an eye to improvement.

In 2022/23, we logged 155 complaints across Social Impact, Retail, and Youth Impact and Services. This is 3% decrease on the previous year. 145 (93%) of these complaints were resolved within 10 working days, with the remainder resolved between 12 and 46 working days after the complaint was received. Complaints outside our service level agreement of 10 days tended to be challenging complaints that required several communications between our organisation and the complainant.

100% of complaints were resolved locally by the staff member or team that received the complaint. One complaint received came to us via the Fundraising Regulator – we responded to this appropriately, with

the regulator acknowledging that no further action was required.

85% of complaints received were upheld, a 6% increase on the previous year. Most upheld complaints related to some sort of error from the charity or from a member of staff or volunteer – for example, administrative or human errors.

We are thankful to everyone who chose to stand alongside children and young people this year and will continue to commit to delivering the best possible supporter experience.

5.9. General Data Protection Regulation

We remain fully committed to protecting our stakeholders’ data and to following the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Our information governance group meets monthly and provides oversight. This group considers how we handle information relating to children and young people, our supporters, our employees, and our volunteers to make sure we are always honest and open about how we handle personal data and take appropriate measures to keep it safe and secure. The group also engages with any project in the organisation involving personal data, like the implementation of new systems.

Since the General Data Protection Regulation became effective, we have continued to focus on information governance and are committed to further strengthening our position in this area wherever appropriate. We can also confirm that there are no significant data breaches or concerns within the year.

The Children’s Society

6. Protecting the environment

The Children’s Society recognises the importance of environmental issues to young people, and we take seriously our role in reducing our carbon impact. We are committed to conducting ourselves in a responsible, sustainable way to protect both people and planet. With the full support of trustees and management, we are on a journey to reduce our environmental impact and maintain high operational standards across all our activities.

Our operational activities

All our retail stock, with the exception of greetings cards, is donated. With turnover this year of £12 million, we are able to say that just under one third of our income is environmentally friendly, in that it is reused, recycled, and/or upcycled. We do all that we can to stop goods being sent to rag merchants or landfill by circulating stock between shops and having discount stores for any items which are deemed to be end of line.

Inevitably, some of the product we receive cannot be sold through any of our stores. We have a small number of rag merchants who collect from us and pay by weight. Where possible, we use merchants who have or are working towards a TRUST award, which demonstrates that they are minimising their environmental impact. Our recycling of rag has saved 980 tonnes of CO2 this year.

Our retail operations are run with the intention of reducing their carbon footprint. Actions include:

introducing bags for life made from sugar beet
switching to energy efficient light bulbs
changing our pricing guns
recycling or purchasing secondhand shop fittings as we open new stores.

In addition to our retail initiatives, we have:

continued to promote the awareness and facilitation of a renewable energy contract for the organisation as a whole
continued to recycle ink and toner cartridges
continued to encourage less travel and prioritise online meetings where appropriate
renegotiated our car fleet contract, with 12 of 15 vehicles now replaced by either electric or hybrid vehicles to reduce our carbon footprint and organisational costs
worked with our IT partner, Coforge, to minimise energy usage and to collect and recycle redundant IT equipment

posted regularly on Yammer about local initiatives and ideas

monitored and promoted the dedicated SharePoint site on environmental topics.

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Carbon and energy reporting

The year ending 31 March 2023 is our third year of renewable energy for both gas and electricity. This covers 98% of our estate, with the energy provider in a smaller number of our properties being chosen by the landlord. We recognise that this does not reduce our energy usage per se.

Our usage of energy across our property portfolio is as follows:

	2022/23
Electricity (kWh)	1,424,093
Gas(kWh)	117,902
Equivalent CO2e(tonnes)	275.4

We use public transport where possible, but for some activities colleagues use either a fleet car (of which there are 15) or their own vehicle. When contracts for the fleet vehicles expired, we changed them to electric or hybrid vehicles. Our use of vehicles accounted for 170.4 tonnes of CO2e.

The retail car fleet is almost completely now made up of full battery electric, self-charging, or plugin hybrid vehicles. By November 2023, there will no cars powered only by an internal combustion engine in the fleet.

Over the term of the four-year leases, the move to electric vehicles will cut CO2 from 116 tonnes to 17 tonnes, representing reduction of 85% against the equivalent petrol car.

In addition, as part of the migration to electrical vehicles, retail work with Mina, who provide a simple EV charging solution, meaning carbon emissions and intensity per driver, when using home and public charge networks, can be monitored. This means a change in driver behaviour can also be encouraged, thereby promoting the use of renewable energy wherever possible.

Battery range and operating costs on commercial vehicles are not at the stage of advancement we’re seeing with cars, but it’s envisaged that retail will be in a position to start migrating to electric commercial vehicles in the next two to three years.

The Children’s Society

Looking to the future, we will develop our net zero plan further. This will include:

making sure that all our activities comply with or exceed regulatory requirements or codes of practice where available
monitoring our carbon dioxide emissions and acting to reduce them where possible
continuing to comply with the Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS)
engaging with our employees, young people, and our volunteers to manage our environmental impact and encourage them to complement our activities with their own efforts
monitoring and improving our performance in relation to the waste hierarchy, continuing to recycle waste wherever possible, provide bins for all items, and encourage local recycling initiatives
reducing energy and water consumption where possible by using LED lighting, energyefficient lighting systems, and responsibly sourced furniture and office equipment
selecting an energy supplier with renewable energy accreditation as our nominated supplier where possible
encouraging employees to use alternative transport methods by providing season ticket and bike loans
continuing to adopt an agile workspace environment to facilitate virtual meetings, giving options not to travel at all or to reduce travel, with associated cost efficiencies and an impact on our carbon footprint
reviewing our property portfolio requirements to allow us to maximise working from home opportunities
monitoring our investments and those of the pension funds in line with ESG principles.

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7. Statement of responsibilities

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the trustees’ impact summary, annual report, and financial statements

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ impact summary, annual report, and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the financial reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Under company law, the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the excess of income over expenditure for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue its activities.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charitable company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Diana Noble Chair of board of trustees

The Children’s Society

8. Independent auditors’ report

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Church of England Children’s Society for the year ended 31 March 2023, which comprise the group statement of financial activities, the group and parent balance sheets, the group cash flow statements, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom accounting standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard (FRC) applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of the group’s and parent charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the income and expenditure, for the year then ended
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s ethical standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s or the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in this report and the chair’s introduction. Our opinion on the financial

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statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report the fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the information given in this report (which includes the strategic report and the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements

the strategic report and the directors’ report included have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exceptioin

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in this annual report (which incorporates the strategic report and the directors’ report).

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company
the parent charitable company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns
certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ statement of responsibilities, set out on page 77, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

The Children’s Society

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s and the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) will always detect a material misstatement where it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Based on our understanding of the group and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the regulatory requirements of the Charity Commission, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements, such as the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, and the Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities (SORP).

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override controls) and determined the principal risks were related to potential posting of inappropriate journal entries and management bias in certain areas of management estimate. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

inspecting correspondence with regulators and tax authorities
discussions with management, including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws, regulation, and fraud
evaluating management’s controls designed to prevent and detect irregularities
review of minutes of meetings to identify expected material amounts of voluntary income
identifying and testing journals, using data analytics to focus testing on higher risk entries
challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in their critical account estimates.

Our impact 2022/23

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Adam Halsey (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP Statutory Auditor

10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Date:

The Children's Society 9. Financial statements 82

Our Impact 2022/23 The Church of England Children's Society Consolidated statement of financial activities Year ended 31 March 2023 Unres1- rleted fu15 R•st. Endow rfrted -ment fund5 fund5 Unrèst- ricted funds Rest- Endow- ricte ment funds funds Total fund5 Total funds 2023 £No 2023 £000 2023 £000 2023 s0 2022 2D22 £000 £000 2022 £000 2022 £000 Note 1CoMe and OfKlowmenls trom.. Dov8lKJnsand le%acies Charitable activities TiadiiiA Income Inve5tiMents 19.112 8,774 ll,330 30 19.180 12.846 13.553 8,696 3.98 9,987 18 13.553 12.682 9,987 25 4,072 ll.330 37 Other iome 406 406 Tolal Incomeand endowments 39251 4.072 43398 32 661 3 986 36.653 Expernllturg 011: Raising lunds Charitable activities 17.383 18,gf 17.383 22.618 15,650 18.598 15,650 22213 3.615 Tolal ex 248 615 37M3 Firnce costs Net 214n(lOsSI 7 investments li (131 (131 14 13181 14961 (8141 I,029 2.7 Ngtlncr*n• 419 421 371 315 Other reccEni5ed gains (losse51: Gains on revalu3tlDn of Iixeo assets 21 21 59 59 ActLiaii8111055esl/RsAns deh.tth beneh"t peli517 scheines TransFer5 between lu3 li IL581 11581 20 14.5001 Net mDvernent in tund5 419 371 315 Reconclllatlon of luMIs Funds brDU ht lorwaid Tolol fLiTrds Garried lorward Sumrnary of total income ar •xvendlture Total Incorne Total exDendilure 27.195 301 910 17.454 533 45.559 27.840 539 16,139 910 17 44.518 38.954 4,072 136.3481 13.6531 (4211 42.605 .747 3.986 140.0011 134.3921 13.6151 1,315 39.048 138.Q071 Ngtlnctyne 2.606 419 421 371 315 83

The Children’s Society

The notes on pages 87 to 111 form part of these financial statements. The financial statements were approved and authorised by the board of trustees on 27 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Chris Gillies Honorary Treasurer

The result of the parent charity for the year was a net income of £1,946,638 (2022: net income of £563,000). Funds for the Group and Society include a revaluation reserve of £827,806 (2022: £2,190,000).

Our Impact 2022/23 The Church of England Children's Soc*ty Group and Society cash flow statements Year end 31 March 2023 Croup Soclety 2023 2022 2023 2022 Note £l)00 £000 £000 £000 et ush generated by opwatlng actl¥ltles A (4921 (2681 Cash flows from i1we5tme artrvities Investrnenl Incorne received 37 25 37 25 Purchase ot investments (141 (141 (131 Pioceedg trorn thèsale ol InvestmÉnt5 IAII Purch&seoflsngible 2nd intaiwiblèfixed assetg 11.0761 li.1) 11.0761 PreedS from the sale ollixed èssets (201 399 (201 399 Net cash providedllEonsumedl by itwe5tment activities 338 (l.22Ql (1.074) (1.220 Incrnase/(docreasel In cash (591 (L.3421 (671 Cash at tlie st3it ol thè perd 2,774 2.833 2.IK)2 2.729 ash •lt Ihe end ¢rf the period 2.774 L320 2fi 85

The Children's Society Notes to the cash flow statements A. R4£unEilknitig0 01 ¥t lilw ta cabh 2•nwatad by op•iatlnE Jdlvll Group Soclety 2023 2022 2023 2022 £CwJO £CwJO £000 £CwJO Net irKoThe as repwted in the stateTherrt of financial aetmtles 2583 L140 1.926 Adjustments loi.. Net InvestnEnt incoN* leiVatIe (371 (371 Net Interest C05ton detiiied benefit per10 liability 13 13 Deprecialionand amtitIr charges l.033 l.151 1.033 1.151 lrnpèirment cliarges othér adjustmènts (5331 IGains)/losses on the Sa of lixed assets I,507 (3991 1,507 1399) LoeS/{gainSI IeStMe17tS assets (8141 12.3371 1814) 12.3371 (INreasel/deCrèe In debtors (3.8641 (4971 (41) (3.1501 (4211 (299) Iiicwse/ldecrease) In creditors l.795 2.288 Iiitercornpany creditor 144 111cSe/(decrea5el in pmvisioi)s lor Iiabililies 15lll 154 Net ¢ash PrIded by oper•tion5 before pension eontrlbutlons U56) 1,451 68 Pènsion conlril)ulions (3361 (1721 13361 (1721 et ush generated by lywatlng a¢tl¥ltles (4921 L279 (2681 Ll 86

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial ststements Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of these linancial statements are as set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated. Republic of Ireland {'FRS 102.). The Society is a public-benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. They also conform to the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. No separate Statement of Financial Activities ('SOFA') has been presented for the Charity alone as permitted by the Charities SORP. Basis of consolidatio a. General information The Society is registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee with registration number 40004. It is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission with registration number 221124. The registered office of the Society is- Whitecross Studios 50 Banner Street The results of each of the Society's subsidiary undertakings listed in note 21 have been consolidated into these financial statements, on a line-by-line basis. Uniform group accounting policies have been applied and transactions and balances between the undertakings are eliminated on consolidation. London ECIY 8ST b. Statement of compliance These consolidated and separate financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. under the historical cost convention, as modified by the recognition of certain assets measured at fairvalue. d. Going concern The accounting policies of The Children's Society include the preparation of the accounts on the assumption that the Society will be a going concern for the 18-month period from the date of signing of the accounts. We have extended the view from 12 months due to the uncertain environment within the sector and the economy in general. Subsidiaries and joint ventures Entities related to the Society are treated as subsidiaries when the Society is able to control the entity. Subsidiaries that have been part of the group in the year are shown in note The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities.- Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities p reparing their f inanc ial statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities (SORP 2015) (Second Edition, effective l JanLJary 2019) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and 87

The Children's Society Notes to the f inancial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies (continued) The Society and two other charities own one-third each of the share cap ital in a se parate entity, CharlTyshare Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 5260609. CharlTyshare was wound up on 26 July2023. f. Income from donations• grants and legacies Income from donations, grants and legacies is recognised when the Society is entitled to the income, when receipt is probable and tFE amount can be reliably estimated. Gift Aid receivable is recognised at the sarne time as the related donations. income is recognised in proportion to the cumulative value of expenditure. The amount of income recognised in a given reporting period is calculated as the difference between the cumulative income at the beginning and the end of the reporting period. h. Donated goods Valuation of donated goods for resale at the time of receipt is not practicable, due to the high volume of low value items received and the absence of detailed stock control systems. Instead, the value of the donated items is recognised as income when they are sold and their value is thus determined. When donations are received other than in money, for instance as a donation ol prGperty or investments, the donation is recorded at the fair value of the items donated at the date of donation. with the relevant asset recorded at the same initial value. i. Gifts in kind The Society receives goods and services that are provided free of charge. When these replace expenditure that the Society would have made if not provided free of charge and the value can be measured reliably, the value of the goods or services received is recognised as donated income at the value that the Society would have paid a third-party supplier. The expenditure or asset arising is recognised at the same value in the appropriate section of the financial statements. If there is a requirement to repay a grant received as a result of not meeting the conditions of the grant, a liability is recognised for the repayment and recorded as a reduction in income in the period. g. Income from contracts Income from contracts for the delivery of services is recoEnised on a straight- line basis over the period of time that the contract covers. Where the contract has a set value of expenditure to be met as well as covering a period c>1 time. cumulative 88

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the f inancial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies (continued) j. Volunteers The Society benefits from volunteer support in its reta il network, fundraisinggroups, work with children and young people, and administration. If volunteers were not avai lable, their roles would not be provided by salaried staf f as it would be fi nancially impractical. There is no ready market comparator for the roles they undertake and it is not possible to reliably measure the financial value of our volunteers. C(t group HR andorgani5ational Llevelopnient Property service5 Allocation basis Headcount Number ot prffjerties managed Number ot users seNiO Infoimalion sy5tetns Finaiicial wocessing and management Senior Management Governanc Headcount H*ddcount Headcount l. Leases The cost of the rninimum payments under an operating lease is recognised evenly over the non-cancellable period of the lease. To meet this policy, break Points are assumed to be taken when calculating lease costs. Employee benef its Short-terrn employee benefits Short-term employee benefits, typically salaries, paid hol iday and contributions to money-purchase pension schemes. are recorded as the employees earn entitlement to the benefits through their service. Long-term employee benefits Single employer defined benefit pension schemes Scheme assets are measured at market value. Scheme liabilities are measured using the projected unit credit method and discounted at the current rate of high-quality corporate bonds with an equivalent term and the same currency as the liabil ities. Current service costs are recognised as the scheme members earn entitlement to benefits. Past service costs are recognised immediately in The financial value of the donated services and the related contributed activity are, therefore, not recognised in the financial statements, k. Accounting for expenditure Costs are recognised when the Society has an obligation, whether contractual, legal or constructive, to transfer funds to another person or entity. Costs are recorded at the total of the amount due plus any unrecoverable VAT associated with the cost. Costs are recorded according to the type of expenditure incurred and the charitable, incorne generation or support purpose to which they are put. Support and governance costs are allocated to the activities of the Society using the following bases. 89

The Children's Society Notes to the f inancial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies (continued) expenditure if the benefits have vested. The administration charges of the scheme are also included in expenditure as they lall due. An interest cost arisinE from the unwindinE of the discount on the scheme liabilities and an expected return from assets using the same discount rate are recognised in income and expenditure as a net income or cost. Taxation The Society is a registered charity and, as such, is exempt from taxation of its income provided the income is applied for charitable purposes. Both subsidiary entities are subject to carporationtax. Taxable profits earned by the subsidiaries are distributed under the Gift Aid scheme to the Society so that taxable profits are eliminated, to the extent that the profits are available for distribution. Accounting lor funds Monies received and expended are recorded as part of unrestricted general funds unless they meet the criteria to be recorded in one of the funds described below. Changes in the valuation of the scheme liabilities and assets caused by changing assumptions in the valuation of the liabilities and difference between expected and actual return on assets are recorded as actuarial gains and losses in the SOFA under 'Other recognised gains and losses,. Income received that is required (whether by the donor, by written agreement or by the request made by the Society) to be used more narrowly than for the general purposes of the Society is recorded in a restricted fund. These funds are identified and held separately from the other funds of the Society. The trustees may also set aside monies in a fund designated for a specific purpose. A fund of this kind remains part of the unrestricted funds of the Society, but not available for use for general purposes. Expenditure to meet the purposes of a fund is recorded against the fund. The remaining balances of funds are carried forward for future use. The Charities SORP permits and The Children's Society uses a negative fund to represent the value of the Multi-employer defined benefit pension schemes Where the scheme is in deficit and where the company has agreed to a deficit funding arrangement, the company recognises a liability for this obligation. The amount recognised is the net present value of the deficit reduction contributions payable under the agreement that relates to the deficit. The present value is calculated using the discount rate, which is the equivalent single discount rate. Wfren used to discount the future recovery plan contributions due, this would give the same results as using a full AA corporate bond yield curve to discount the same recovery plan contributions. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as a finance cost. 90

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the f inancial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies (continued) the pension deficit as separate from other funds. Initia I depreciation rates are based on the following expected lives of assets-. p. Intangible fixed assets Intangible assets are capitalised where the useful lile is longer than one year. Where an intangible asset is software, it is included at purchase cost or at total cost of development. recognising the use of internal resources. Software is amortised, using the straight-l ne method and allowing for a residual value. The period of amortisation is six years with a residual value of 50/0. The residual value takes account of technological advances which impact on the value or life cycle of the software. The assets are reviewed annually to assess whether the carrying value is impaired. The carrying value is cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. q. Tangible fixed assets Tangible fixed assets are physical and software assets controlled by the Society that are used in the delivery of charitable or support activities. Tangible fixed assets are recorded when they have an aggregate cost of at least £2,500. They are recorded initially at cost includi ng the costs of bringing them to location and state in which theycan be used for their intended purpose. The cost of the assets is (Jepreciated evenly overtheir expected useful life with the Society to the expected residual value at the end of its uselul life. Depreciation is charged from the point that the asset is ready for use. Ass•t typo IltIal I*11a1 •xpecle¢l èxpected Ilfe resldual value reeliold lalld Cost 50 years Lea5ehold13iid and bui Idi$ including improvernenls Lease Iilé (ppliCation of breakof lease) Vehicles 4 years 4 years OtIEr A55ets After purchase, freehold land and buildings are carried at theiropen market value. Valuations are carried out on a rolling three-year programme by a chartered surveyor. Where market value is above carrying value, this amount is first applied as reversal of depreciation then as an increase in cost. Surpluses arising are transferred to a revaluation reserve as required by the Companies Act. Where the market value is below carrying value, deficits arising are first treated as reversals of valuation then as additional depreciation. To the extent that the revaluation reserve has not been realised through depreciation, deficits arising are charged against the revaluation reserve. Investments Investments are recorded at cost when purchased. Where the market value of an investment can be determined by reference to an 91

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policie5 (continued) an external market or a professional valuation. the investment is carried at its open-market value. Investment property is property held by the Society for the purposes of generating income and/or capital growth. These buildings are not used bythe Society for its purposes. Investment property is recorded initia Ily at cost and remeasured each year at its open- market value. Cains and losses on remeasurement are reported in income and expenditure. depreciation at the date of being placed on sale or the net amount recoverable from the sale, less associated costs. t. Impairment of assets When external events relating to markets or technology or internal events relating to the plans and activities of the Society indicate that the value of an asset may be impaired, an impairment review is conducted. The review determines whether the recoverable value of the asset is above or below its carrying value, using external open-market values or other accepted valuation techniques. If the recoverable amount of the asset is below its carrying value, the difference is written off. To the extent that the reduction in value represents the reversal of undepreciated revaluation surpluses, the reduction is treated as a reversal of the revaluation. Any further reduction is recorded as an impairment of the asset in depreciation. Liabilities and provisions Liabilities are recognised when the Society has a legal or contractual obligation to transfer resources to another party to settle that obligation. Liabilities are recorded at the best estimate of the amount that will be required to settle the obligation. When the timing, value, or both is uncertain, a provision is recognised at the best estimate of the amount to be paid. Current assets Trade debtors are recorded at the amount invoiced in accordance with the agreement to which they relate, less any impairment of the asset. Costs incurred that relate to future periods are carried as prepayments within current assets. Income that has met the conditions to be recognised either as a result of being earned under an agreement or being 3 future donation or legacy, able to be recognised as set out above, is recorded within accrued income. Cash at bank and in hand represents the value of all cash and bank holdings that are available for immediate use. Where fixed assets have been put on sale and are expected to be sold within the next linancial year, their cost or valuation and accumulated depreciation are removed from lixed assets and the asset recorded as an asset held for sale. Assets held for sale are carried at the lower of cost or valuation less accumulated 92

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the f inancial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 l. Accounting policies (continued) Financial instruments Uncertainties and judgements The principal judgements made in the preparation of the financ ial statements have been in relation to.. The Society applies the provisions of sections 11 and 12 of FRS 102 in full. Financial instrurnents are recorded initially at their transaction costs. Financial instruments held at fair value through profit and loss are subsequently measured and reported at their fair va lue. Changes in fair value from remeasurement are recorded in income and expenditure. Financial instruments that are debt or financial liabilities are subsequently measured and reported at their amortised cost using the effective interest method. Remeasurement gains and losses are reported in income and expenditure. w. Assets held on behalf of other charities the assumptions underlying the valuation of the pension scheme deficit disclosed in note 11, which have been prepared with advice from a qualified actuary the allocation of costs to activities, as described above the expected future cost of making good dilapidations to and removing lixtures and fittings Irom properties held on operating leases. The most important uncertainties that the Society faces in the preparation of the financial statements are.. the uncertainty around high inflation. cost of living, and rising interest rates whether investments can be realised at market value stated whether the assumptions on asset return and future cost of the defined benelit pension scheme are borne OLJt continued funding from government organisations continued receipt of material values of legacies in future the future need to invest for growth, particularly unrestricted income. The Society from time to time holds assets on behalf of other charities. When such assets held are held separately from those belonging to the Society, they are not recorded in the financial statements. When the assets are combined with other assets of the Society, for example in pooled investments, the portion of the value of the assets held on behalf of the other charity is recorded as a liability. Income, expenditure, and gains and losses related to the portion of the assets held on behalf of the other charity are not reported in the statement of financial activities. 93

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 2. Income from donations and legacies Unrestricted fuNIs 2023 sooo Restricted fuNIs 2023 £000 Total Uryestricted funds funds 2023 2022 £000 £000 Restricted luThls 2022 £000 Total lurts 2022 £ooD DonatlOll5 Christi1le House boxes OlttÈr donations LeAacies Government*rant Income 727 976 6,569 10240 727 976 6,637 1()340 536 1.192 6,330 5.305 536 1.192 6,330 5.305 Total Ineomgfrom knatlons arnl I acl95 19 19 3. Income from charitable activities Unrestrlete fuThJs 2023 sooo Restrtet fuThJs 2023 £000 Total Uryestricted funds funds 2023 2022 £000 £000 Restricted funds 2022 £000 Total funds 2022 £ooD PlovidirNdlrt 511PPOltto children vouno oooole ChaiEing governrnental and sletl system5 8,492 10.136 8,392 1.720 iO.ll2 282 2.428 2.710 3D4 2.266 2.Jf70 4. Incorne f rom trading activities Unrestricted fuThJs 2023 sooo Restricted tuNIs 2023 £000 Total Uryestricted funds funds 2023 2022 £000 £000 Restricted funds 2022 £000 Total funds 2022 £ooD Iiicome from ret311 activities Card sales Event entry tees 11,202 126 11,202 126 9,841 141 9,841 141 Tola Irom Iradi adr4rEie¥ 30 330 5. Income from investments Unrestslcted Endowment fuNIs tuNIs 2023 2023 £000 £000 Total Uiiie5tricted Endowrneiit f UNIS funds funds 2023 2022 2022 £000 £000 £000 Total funds 2022 £000 Income from tiiiancial investments Income from illvestrnent protErts"es 20 io 27 io io 17 94

Our Impact 2022/23 Note5 to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 6. Other incomes Unrestrleteel Restrfetad tunds funds 2023 2023 £000 £000 Total Uiiie51riGted Rogtricted funds funds 2022 2022 £000 £000 Total funds 2022 £000 2023 £000 (Lossesl/Bains oll diswsal ol fixed assets Sundry Ir0[e (3) (3) 3 399 kncome Irom other gour 406 406 7. Expenditure on raising funds Dlrert costs Support costs 2023 £000 Tot Costs Direct costs 2022 £000 Support costs 2022 £000 Tot31 costs 2022 £000 2023 £000 2023 £000 Direct ftjiiclraising Costs ol retail operations 4,866 9,039 1,413 2.065 6,279 11,104 4,687 8, Jf68 790 1,605 5.477 10.173 Tolal f UN15 05 78 17 2395 8. Expenditure on charitable activities Dlrect C031s Support costs 2023 £000 Tot Direct costs 2022 £OOD Support costs 2022 £000 Total Costs 2022 £000 Costs 2023 £000 2023 £000 Providing direct sOrt to children an(J vounR Dooplo ll,633 4,809 16.442 12.2Qfj 15.993 ChaiynB 8oveintrevtal afjd S¢KEl315ySteiS 5.100 1,076 6,176 5.182 1,076 6,260 Totsl Ox ndltur• on tharltabl• actfvitles 733 5385 22.618 17 4.734 Net income 15 arrived atafter chalg. 2023 £000 2022 £000 Amortis8lion of inlallgible fixed assets Depicfiation ol tangible Iixed assets Rèntals payablè under operating lease5 Auditor s remuner3tian Audit ottl Group's Iiiianc131 gt3tements Other tees payab lo the aijdilor 535 1,035 2.70 54 42 95

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 5wport cl arnl th•lr all¢KatiDn to xtivr11•5 2023 Donatlons Dlreet ChanEinE rvlces 5yStenwJ s0 loRacles £000 Retall £CwJO Total £000 s0 HR andorganisational devdopment PIoDQrty gÈrviteg Iiifoitnalion svsteiTrs Finaiicial prOssin1 and ManaoMent Seiiior illanagetnellt Govoinarte 1.401 55 l.628 I,L43 342 240 317 416 $06 346 589 413 124 87 2.640 401 3.070 2.154 646 452 369 259 78 54 484 339 102 71 Toknl Ju ort costs allocabon bas15fDr support cost5 15 sel out In iiole l. 809 065 363 2022 DDn2tions and leE3cies £000 DIrt services Chsnging systems £000 Retail £000 Total £000 £000 HR 2nd OaNg3t10nal d@wolr4)moiit PIoDQrty gÈrviceg Iiiloitnalion svste15 Finaiicial pro5s1n and man4Èmenl Seiiior illanaAetnellt GoveinarKe g42 282 207 l.741 4g3 2.2 1,638 615 349 425 l.240 886 333 189 372 266 IOD 57 273 195 73 291 log 61 Tolal Ju ort costs 789 604 Governan¢e c05t5 are made up of.. 2023 Sooo 2022 £000 Extèrnal aLJdit Inter1121 audit Tiustéeboard administration Trtee recruitment Trlee expenses TIu51ee meetiogs Piolessional fees Sènior leaoership Igam 54 89 ll8 20 44 59 67 12 163 147 Total ae cos1> 452 Groupandsocioty Average Inoiithly nun*erol lull-time e(Niivalent stotl einployed in.. 2023 2022 Piovidingdirect support lo chiklrev avd yoiing peoL4e Chaiiging Eovernmenlal and 50cietal syste15 Direct fuiidr21sinA Rèt311 operations sUprt seNices 245 265 61 64 166 73 73 178 94 Totsl 96

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 10. Trustees and staff A[ge IoI7th1Y number of statl employed in.. 2023 2022 ProYi(JingdirI support lo chiklren and young peorAe Chai)811i8goveinmelll£l and ltal systern5 Direct tuiidraising Rèt311 operatlons Support services 305 64 75 227 96 293 120 77 l98 767 Costs ot stall GroupandsoCtsl 2023 £000 2022 £000 Wages aNJ salar$ Social secwity Peiision5 Redundaiicv andC(Xnl15at1o1l toi1055 Otollice Alency 51alhnE 21,2&3 2.007 1.323 ll6 272 2Tr.732 1.838 1.032 291 274 Total The total arnount paid in the year for redundancy and compensation for loss ol off ice was £116,391 (2022.. £406.723). The amount accrued for luture redundancy payments at the balance sheet date was nil (2022- nil>. Higher paid staff The number ofemployees with remuneration in excess of £60,000 including redundancy and compensation for loss of office but excluding pension contributions is analysed into the following bands. 2023 Number 2022 Number li Between £60.001 and £?O.000 Between £70.001 and £80.(>00 BeiweÉll £80.00] and£9D,000 Between £90.0013iNJ £IOO.OQO Between £IOO,001 and EllO.000 Between £IIO.001 and £120.t>oo BeMeen £120.001 and £130.000 io The Society paid pension contributions into a money purchase scheme of £66,180 (2022: £82.073) for 15 (2022. 19) of the higher paid staff. Key management personnel The key management personnel serving in the year comprise the chief executive officer, the executive director- Youth Impact (interim for part of the year), the executive director- Enabling Resources, Ihe executive director- Social Impact, and executive director- Diversity 2nd Talent. The total remuneration Daid to kev manaRement personnel was £618,159 (2022. £612,502). DurinR the course of the yearto 31 March 2023, the chief executive received salary payments of £125,580 97

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 10. Trustees and staff (continued) (2022: £120.000). In addition. the companv paid pension contributions of £5,979 (2022.. £4,800) into a defined contribution scheme. As at 31 March 2023, the chief executive's salary had risen to £131,160. No membersof the trustee board received, or were entitled to receive, any remuneration. Where expenses were claimed, reimbursement was made. In the year, travelling expenses of £58 (2022.. £103) were reimbursed to I trustee (2022.. 1>. Trustee indemnity insurance was purchased at a cost of £8,400 (2021.. £6,500). 11. Pensions The Children's Society operates three pension schemes, a defined contributions scheme. a defined benefits scheme and a multi-employer mixed defined benefit and money purchase scheme for additional voluntary contributions within The Pensions Trustgrowth plan ('the growth plan,). The defined contribution scheme is managed by Scottish Widows. The scheme is compliant with the pension reform rules for automatic enrolment. Contributions by the employee are matched by the employer up to a lirnit of 80/0 of salary and a salary sacrifice option is offered. The cost of employer contributions due as a result of service in the year was £949,580 (2022. £951.715). The defined benefits scheme is extern211y funded and is contracted-in to the state second-tier of pension provision. Retirement benefits within this scheme are based on employees, final remuneration and length of service. The scheme was closed to new members in June 2003 and is managed by The Pensions Trust and is covered in note 11(a). 'The Ercwth plan, is a multi-omployer scherne which provides benefits to some 638 non-associated participating employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scherne in the UK but is not possible for us to obtain sufficient information to enable us to account for the scheme as a defined benefit scheme. Therefore we account for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme. The scheme is subject to the funding legislation outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This, together with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Reporting Council, set out the frarnework lor funding delined benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK. The scheme is classified as a 'last- man standing arrangement.. Therefore we are potentially liable lor other participating employers. obligations if those employers are unable to Meet their share of the scheme deficit followinE Wlthdrawal from the scheme. ParticipatinE employers are legally required to meet their share of the scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on withdrawal from the scheme. This is covered in more detail in note 11(b). 98

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 11. Pensions (continued) 11{a). Def ined benefit scheme An actuarial valuation was completed as at 30 September 2021 and the results of this have been updated to 31 March 2023 by a qualified actuary. independent of the scheme's sponsoring employer. The major assumptiGns used by the actuary are shown below. The most recently completed actuarial valuation showed a surplus ol £1.837.000 as at 30 September 2021. Trustees will adopt an investment strategy that minimises as far as possible the level of investment risk whi le supporting the technical provisions discount rate. This reduces the employer's risk of having to pay any future deficit contributions. The expected return from growth assets is 4.5 % p.a. above the nominal gilt curve. The expected return from the matching assets is 1.40/0 p.a. above the nominal gilt curve and retums forills/llabl1itY driven investments are assumed to be in line with market gilt yields. The ultimate target return is 0.85% p.a. above the gilt curve. In addition to and in accordance with the actuarial valuation, the employer has agreed with the trustee that it will pay 17.5 % p.a. of pensionable earnings (previously 17.5Wo p.a.), in respect of the cost of accruing benefits for members who are not participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement and 27.50/0 p.a. of pensionable earnings (previously 27.50/0 p.a.) for rnembers participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement, and will pay £187.800 per annurn to meet scheme expenses and levies to the nSIOn protection fund. Member contributions are payable in addition at the rate of 10.OO/o p.a. of pensionable earnings for members who are not participating in the salary sacrifice arrangement. We have been notified by the pension scheme trustee that there may be a potential issue surrounding changes made to the scheme rules between 1995 and 2006, over which the trustee is seeking clarification from the courts. The matter is unlikely to be resolved before 2024 at the earliest, and as such it is not possible to determine with any accuracy what the impact might be of any direction the court may, or may not, Eive. Many factors will impact the future valuation of the pension scheme, none of which can be accurately predicted at the present time. No adjustment has therefore been made to the amounts included in the financial statements in respect of this potential issue. The assumptions used by the actuary are the best estimates chosen each year from a range of possible actuarial assumptions which, due to the timescale covered, may not necessarily be borne out in practice. 2023 O.OOVo 2.78% 4.75% 3.20% 3.20% 2022 O.OOVo 3.11010 2.78% 3.61Vo 3.61Vo Rate ol Iiicrèasè In salaries Rate ol Incrèase In enon5 In p3yiMent Inflation assumption Rbte ot Increase lordeleed pes1[S The rate of increase in salaries is assumed at Owo as pensionable salaries for active members were frozen as at 31 December 2013. 99

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 11{a). Defined benefit scheme (continued) Life expectancy included in the valuation of the scheme is calculated using the S3PXA (All Pensioners- Pension Amounts) tables with a best estimate scheme- specific scaling factor of 110% (2022- 106%). The base tables have been projected using the S2PXA projection model with a long-term improvement rate 1.50/0 for males and of 1.250/0 for females. The resulting average life expectancies in years (age at death) were- Pensioner5 retiring.. 2023 2022 Females ales Females ales Now In 3Q years 24.1189.11 21.7186.71 25.6190.6) 23.3188.3) 24.3 (89]) 21.9186.91 25.7190.7) 23.5188.5) Assets and liabilities of the scheme 2023 £000 86.448 149 ll,909 1,7 18.862 ll9.ill 115.727 3.384 13,0901 (7J4) 19 2022 £000 114,696 6,3 16.437 1,143 29.630 16&240 149,280 I8,0 118.4071 (5531 29 Bonds PioDÈrty Cash Other Scherne assets Preserrt value ot schome IlabllMIo5 Sutplus/lDefKIII In the scherne- Dèngim 1'alIt Eltect o135set ceiling Eliminate FIqS102 scheme siirplus Present value of Rrowth plan provision (note Illb)) Net n5ion liabilit Profit and loss impact 2023 £0 2022 Sooo Currentseivice cost Past service c05t Expenses Interest on oblwatr)n Ex ecled return on sclieme assets Total 238 4, Jf93 4.608 349 187 3.465 3.478 100

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 11{a). Defined benelit scheme {continued) Movement in defined benef it obligation 2023 Sooo 2022 Sooo Opeiiing defined l)enelit DbligalK)n Currentserwiee cost Past service c05t Interest cost ContributlOll5 by ernplDyees 149.280 126 157.901 4,082 12 132,6781 15,0951 3.261 13 16.5791 15,4Jroi 8enèYits paid Cl1 dofln8d bon•fitobl lon 149 Change in fair value of the scheme assets Z023 £000 2022 Sooo Opeiiingvaliie ol tlie scherne assets Expected return Expenses 168.240 4,608 12381 148.7521 336 12 15,0951 168.271 3.478 (1871 l.776 339 13 Contributions by eirployer Contributlolls by ernplDyees Benetits paid Clejl lalr va* of the schem asets 16 240 Actual relurn on sehomo assots (44.144) 5254 Def ined benefit costs recognised in other comprehensive income 2023 Sooo 2022 £0 Return on plan a55ets (excludinB airounts included in net interest costl Experience Rain5 ar1055e5 8r15irw on the liabilitie5 Ellects ol cliallRes In the demoRiaDfvic and financial assumption5 underlyi1 the present value of the F)kn liabilities 148.7521 (8.6491 1.776 (1.9741 s7.1r Payment to eliminate deit Eltect ol asset ceiling Eliminate FRS102 schemesurplus 12941 (5531 Tolal •nThirt recoznlsed In otlw ¢¢wpiehen51ve Income 540 101

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 11(a). Defined benefit scheme (continued) Sensitivity analysis Changes in assumptions would have the following indicative eff ects on the l iabi lities of the scheme. Assumption change Effect on liabilities Increase/decrease in discount rate by 0.1% 2% increase/decrease in liabilities I ncrease/decrease inflation linked 2% increase/decrease of inflation assumptions by 0.1 % per annum linked liabilities Increase/decrease in life expectancy of l year 3-5% increase/decrease in liabilities 11{b). Thegrowth plan The Children's Society participates in The Pensions Trust Rrowth plan, a multi- employer scheme which provides benefits to some 638 non-associated participating employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK. A lull actuarial valuation of the scherne was carried out as at 30 September 2020. This valuation showed assets of £800.3 million, liabilities of £831.9 million and a deficit of £31.6 million. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the trustee has asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows. Deficit contributions (relating to all 638 employers) From l April 2022 to 31 JanLJary 2025.. £3,312,000 per annum (payable monthly). The recovery plan contributions are allocated to each participating employer in line with their estimated share of the series l and series 2 scheme liabilities. 2023 £000 2022 £000 Present values ol provision (orty relatinE toThe Children's Society) 19 29 2023 Sooo 2022 Sooo CIHnEes In prov151on Provision Bt start ol per UiiwindinR ol the disGounl t10[ Iintere5texpensel Dèticitconliibuliorbs paid ReMeaSuMents- tnpacl ol any cliange in assurnptioiis Remeasurenien15- Imèiidmentg lo tho contribution qchodulo Pro¥lslon at qlld of petlod 29 150 1391 82 29 19 Profit and Ios5 impact IiiteKest expense ReMSureients- impact ol any cliange in assuwpbons RerneaSuments- amèiidiments lo tlie contribution schedul 101 82 2023 2022 A5sumptlons 5.52Wo 2.350 102

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 12. Intangible fixed assets Softwar• £¢)00 Tota £000 Gr¢wp and Soclety Cost 01 valualiin Al l Apnl 2022 Tiangfor A(*Jilioll5 Digwgals Revalus110 2.446 961 2.446 961 At 31 Mar¢h 2023 AnrtiSatio11 Al l Apnl 2022 Transfer Armitisalion charAed Rdeased 01) (Jiso0581 Revaluation 242 35 242 At 31 Marth 2023 Net book value At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022 2.630 2.630 13. Tangible fixed assets Freehdd land and l)uildin%5 £000 Leas8hold land and buildin%5 s0 Othei Assets SCWJO Vehide5 £000 Software s0 Total £000 Group and Sockty Cogt DI V31ual#in AI IApnl 2022 Tianslèr to intaiigiblèassels A(lJiliolls Disposals Revalu8lio 2.393 7,433 32 5.428 2.446 12,4461 17.732 (2,4461 115 (20) 28 42 71 (20) 28 At 31 March 2023 2A63 5.499 Depreciation At IApnl 2022 884 34 6,143 407 (171 32 5.378 47 242 12.679 Depreciation charged Rdea5ed on disp05é1 Tiaiisler tointanAibloassets Revaluation (171 12421 (si 12421 18) At 31 March 2023 533 Net book value At 31 Mareh 2023 At 3L March 2022 L553 1.509 883 1.290 74 2.509 5.054 2.204 103

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 13. fix•d a55•ts (aThrtlnu•d) Freehold land and buildings used by The Children's Society are revalued following the policy set out in note l. Valuations are carried out by the Society's estates surveyor, lan Birtwistle MRICS. The most recent valuations were carried out in 2022. If the properties (including those held for sale and in investments) had not been revalued, they would be reported in the accounts with a cost of £2,164,519 (2022: £2,510,977) and accumulated depreciation of £613,572 (2022. £675,753) leaving a net value of £1,550.947 (2022: £1,8Q5,224). 14. Investments ITrM5tm•nt Llst•d prop•rtles Investrne5 £000 s0 Group and Soelety Tota £000 At l Aprll 2021 1.5 37.779 39.375 Pwehases Tianslèr fromtlx a5setS Sales Realised and unrealised At l Awfjl 2022 ains- Socie 2.337 40.129 2.7 41,725 L596 Pwcha5e5 Tianslerlrom fixed assets Sales Re31iseO and unre3lised 14 14 aiTrs- Societ 30 814 At 31 Mareh 2023 155 15. Debtors Group Socl•ty 2023 £000 2022 £000 2023 SNO 2022 £000 Trade tjebto Piepaymenls an(J accrued Incomè Taxation dèbtors Other debtors Arnoui)Is due from su1)diarY 1.5FA) 7,377 983 3.9r 873 7,325 968 3.907 45 123 Isi 125 (51 104

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 16. Creditor5: amounts due within one year Group Soclety 2023 £000 2022 £000 2023 £000 2022 £000 Tiadp creditors Accruals Dèterred Incole Tax2tion and social sÈcwity Other cxeditorg Amount5 due lo sul)sidiary 350 2.626 3.448 524 192 420 1.926 4,112 454 725 350 2.626 2.509 524 192 420 1,926 3.291 454 725 943 Tolal credltors: amourrbdue wlthlTrone Deterred 1COme arises a5 & resultol payrnent or billi1 in advèii( lor activities that are lo be deliwered in the fulwe. Group Soclety 2023 £000 2022 £0 2023 s0 2022 £000 Deleired income èt the st3rt of theyear 4,112 3.261 3.291 2.275 Delerred 1cOme broughtforwsrd releaseil in the year Income deferred Irom tlie year 11.4561 792 (8231 1,674 (r} ll4 (5911 1,607 D¢f¢rred at thecnd plt 2.737 291 17. Provisions for liabilities Group aiid Society Property Total dllapldatlons proTAslons £000 £000 AI IApril 2022 l.776 1,776 Charied In tmyear Used In the year Rdeased uNsed 14011 14C)11 Totsl rw¥ipn$ 105

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 17. Provlslon lot liJbllltl•s (eontinuod) Prop8rty Total dllapldatlons provlslon5 £000 £000 Armuiits due withinone year Armuiils due èftei moièth3n one year 490 885 490 885 Total slons Under the terms of operating leases for properties, the Society is required to make good any dilapidation in the condition of properties and to remove fixtures and fittings added to the building during the course of the lease. The amounts and timing of the amounts due are not certain, as leases may be curtailed or extended and the cost of works is not known until they are carried out. The value of works required is estimated by suitably qualified and experienced chartered surveyors. 18. Commitments At 31 March 2023, the Croup and Society had nil (2022- £1.5 million) of authorised but not contracted capital commitments and nil (2022- £2.4 million) contracted capital commitments that had not been reflected in the financial statements. Inimumpsyments under operating leas a.. Land aThJ Motor v•hlclo5 £000 Offle• oqulpment £000 Z023 Tota £0 £()Jo AnKunt5 falling due.. within oiie vear betkveen two aiid five years alter mre thanliveyears 1.991 4,623 662 94 222 2.087 4,845 662 Tolal rati lease comrnitment¥ 316 Lan(J ancj buildin5 £000 Motor vehicles £000 Ollice eqLipmènt £000 2022 Tot31 £000 Aniount5 falling due,. within one year between two aiid thve years alter mre than fiveyèars 1.9 4,221 1,330 31 26 2.027 4,247 1,330 Tolal rali leo% cvmrnitrnents 57 106

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 19. Contingent liabilities In common with other charitable organisations, the Society receives legacies arising from wills where the executor has been unable to locate one or more beneficiaries. In these circumstances, the Society may provide an indemnity to the executor, under which any lunds required to be paid to the missing beneficiary or beneficiaries are recovered from the Society. At the date of these accounts, the value of such indemnities was £347.794 (2022: £347,794). 20. Funds Gr(p Balanee at31 arch 2022 Iorne £000 s0 other galns Balance at31 March 2023 £000 Exp•nd. Iture £000 (losses) Transfers s0 s0 Unrestrlctetl lunds General funds DÈsiAWted tuiidg Pioporfy Slrateky fund Irnp2Ct tund Total desi iiated funds Unrestslcted fuNls bolore Pension delicit ILJTrd Tolal unrestrictEd funds 16.526 39.249 (2471 916 21.297 5.054 2.144 3. JfDO 10.698 27,224 29 27.195 IL.023) 11401 1381 1.2DI 36.348 21 1.088 12,0041 5.140 1811 60 308 io 4, JfOO 13.023 34.320 Ig 34.301 nslon detlctt Ilabll 39.253 4, JfOO 39.253 36.348 4, JfOO Resttlcted lunds TkE National Lottery Community Fund CFormerfv Bi Lotteryfiindl Other raiits Tolal restilcted fvnds Endowment fund5 The Cl)ildr@n's SociÉty Fund Ch3rnwood House crnwo Foiesl HawnDshire Gir15 and BDysTrust TW Ciiildren's Society The Spoonèr Trust The George arid Marion &ack Flind The Cro han Fd Total endowiment fu5 628 82 910 1,034 19161 746 4,073 3,653 1,330 IQ.406 1.764 1.168 475 606 818 1,348 8?0 17,4SI 12981 1501 1331 1141 13,7041 6,408 1,714 1.136 1,050 589 (5891 (7961 1231 1381 23 496 1.310 915 12.533 75 4.50D Total furKIs 45 558 43AOD 40.001 107

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 20. Funds (continued) Analysis of net assets by fund Dosogna. Ponslon defSdt tund £(M)O Restrlc- Endo ment funds £000 General tunds S[0 furnls £000 funds £000 Total £000 Ilitan1b10 fixed 35sels TanRible tixed assètg Iiive5tiMents Tolal fixed assèts Cash Other curreiita5sets Total cutTent assets 2.630 2.)9 7,883 13.023 2.630 2.509 39,514 44.653 2.623 8,932 ll.555 7.140 4,415 885 4S.183 19 19.097 19.097 1.293 8,932 12.533 12.533 I,330 1,330 7.140 3.085 885 Net eurrent assèts 1,330 Nel assets excliidi en510n defi-cit 13.023 Ig 19 Net assets 13.023 Balance at31 Mèrch 2021 £OOOs Other Balance a131 arch 2022 £WOs Exll Group Income £O(Xs 1105ses1 Tianslers £ODOs £WOs £WOs Unrestricted furM15 General lunds Dèsign3ted lunds Property fund Strategy fund act lund Tolal de51 nated furN15 Unrestrlcted funds betore Penslon (leflclt fund Total unrestricted funds Resttlcted lunds 612 Lolléry tuiid Other rants Total restricted furnls Endowment TkE Cliildren'ssociety Imd Ch3rnwood House Ch3rnwoDd Forest HamD511ire GY15 and Boys Home TW Ciiildren's Society The SpDonÈr Trugt Ttr George and Marion Slack fund The Cro han lund Total endowTherrtrfutM15 16,201 32.660 133.0971 862 iiooi 16,526 (1.1511 59 5.054 2.144 3.5fKJ 10,698 27 224 29 27.195 7,227 15,0831 11,7 i.L51 34.248 59 92 121 1.042 On51on deficit liabil. loo 150 27.841 32.660 34.248 loo 591 375 13381 628 283 910 539 3.986 3,615 9,678 1,640 1.086 442 724 123 81 33 42 57 94 10.406 1,764 1.169 475 606 761 1,252 716 1.348 870 17 454 loo loo Total fund5 44519 36.653 108

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 20. Funds (continued) De%ription of funds Ceneral lunds represent the other assets available for the general purposes of the Society. The transfer of £915,000 represents the balance of the strategyfund after deducting the final cost of phase 4 of the CRM development. Designated property fund represents the carrying value including revaluations of land and buildings held for use in the activities of The Children's Society. The strategy lund represents amounts set aside by the trustees to help invest in operational projects that will improve current systems and infrastructure to help us achieve our 2030 goal, the balance of which has been transferred to eneral lunds due to the fact that trustees feel the original purpose of the fund has been achieved and the balance can be used for a wider purpose, still helping the organisation to achieve its 2030 goal and beyond. The impact fund has a purpose to help enhance OLJr strategic ambition by funding innovative pilots and projects for which traditional forms of funding are unavailable. It L)enefitted from a £4.5 million Iransfer that came from The Children's Society endowmentfund andThe Spooner Trust. These transfers represent unrealised gains from the endowment fund over several years, with permission granted from the Charity Commission to use these funds for the purpose of the impactfund. Restricted funds represent the remaining unspent amount ofdonations, grants, and legacies given to be used for specific purposes or in specific areas. Details of grants received are in note 24. Endowment funds have additional restrictions on the use of capital. The Children's Societyfund and The Spooner Trust are held to generate income to use for the purpose and mission ol the charity and have been merged. The George and Marion Slack Fund is held to provide edLJcational opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people. Charnwood House, Charnwood Forest, Hampshire Boys & Girls Trust, and The Children's Society are held to generate income to provide care and support to children and young people in specific places in England. The Childrens Society was transferred into Hampshire Boys & Girls Trust. The Croghan Fund is to support young people in education. 109

The Children's Society Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 21. Financial instruments Group Sodety 2023 sooo 2022 £000 2023 s0 2022 £000 FlnarKlal assets msured at falr value throuEh prollt and loss Finaiicial Investniènts 39.359 40.1 39.359 40.129 Debt instruThe5 Aiea3ured at amortised co3t Trade tlebtorg Other debtors AnntS due Irorn subsidiaries 1.560 151 983 125 873 151 968 123 Financial liabilities misured at amortised cost Trad@ croditorg Accrued expenses Other creditorg Atmunls ¢Jueto sub51diaries 350 2.626 192 420 1,926 725 350 2.626 192 1,926 724 943 22. SubsTdiary undertakings The Society owns the whole share capital of The Children's Society (Trading) Limited, registered in England and Wales, no. 885496, whose principal activity is to carry out commercial activities that generate funds in aid of the Society, and The Children's Society (Services) Limited, registered in England and Wales, no. 4545124, whose principal activity is to provide funded direct services for the beneficiaries of the Society. Both companies have entered into an agreement to donate their taxable surplus each year to the Society under the corporate Gift Aid scheme. A surnmary of the information disclosed in the companies. accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 is.. Sèrvkè Tr*llni 2023 2022 2023 2022 Sumrnarfsed and 1065account Iiicome Ex endilure 4,861 5.087 4.8 519 15191 214 173 41 1411 230 L30 loo iiooi ear Girt Aid digtribution to ThÈ Chil(kÈn g Socioty 616 16161 Retalnod Tl Sumrnari5ed balance sheet Currènt asset5 1,478 11.478) i.o (1.0181 139 (1) loo iiooi Not ass•ts Share capital Ret3ined reserdes Total iosÈrvog 110

Our Impact 2022/23 Notes to the financial statements (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 23. Related parties Information on trustees. expenses is set out in note 9. The total amount of trustee donations rnade, without conditions, was £11,377 (2022.. £25,298). The Children's Society. Age UK, and the Alzheimer's Society have equal shares in a company called CharlTyshare Limited. which previously provided a shared IT service to the three charities. This company ceased to trade on 30 June 2018. On I June 2020. Karen Spears and Matthew Haw of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP were appointed as joint liquidators in a members voluntary liquidation, a solvent wind up. Liquidation was closed on 26 July 2023. Tran5actlons wlth subsldlary dertakI$ 2023 £000 2022 £000 SoThlces £000 Tradln £000 TradlnR Balance sheet arrrnrrt5 Amouii15 due tD the parent ndertakIng Armuiils duerfiom Ihe parent umerlakin l39 707 l.373 93 Donation5 from the pareiit teaking Expendlturo Donatn5 lo the parentuntjèrlaking 616 41 519 loo 24. Grants received The following grants have been reiVed in the year. Sooo The Nalional Lottery Commurwty Fu1 (previously The BIE Lottery) Reachlng Communlllej Grarrt5 DisrLJPtIi E%plrAtatioii HEARTS Yorttghirè 949 149 Crants froTh oth•r charbtlesand fuNlers Hol@ oifico EUSS Coordin2ted Crisis SppOrt Other BBC Childreii In Neéd- >alesr¢In8 Children al Risk- )revention and Action CC-QD place Cc-op By your gKIè Co-op Building Connections 31 EHWB 169 70 35 80 40 73 ll8 Other grantsfrom charftable bodles In the y•aranUllt to: National Prevention Proierl CSE/A Sarnworth Fouiidation British Tran5POrt Police PreveiitK]n Sate £oiies Other 710 loo 92 661 225 111

The Children’s Society

11. Corporate information

The Church of England Children’s Society

(A company limited by guarantee) Also known as The Children’s Society

Registered office

Whitecross Studios 50 Banner Street London EC1Y 8ST Company registration no. 40004 Charity registration no. 221124

Telephone

020 7841 4400

Website

childrenssociety.org.uk

Subsidiary companies

The Children’s Society (Services) Limited, company no. 4545124 The Children’s Society (Trading) Limited, company no. 885496 The Children’s Society is not a grant-making body.

Royal president

HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO

Presidents

The Most Reverend and Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

The Most Reverend and Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury of York Stephen Cottrell

Vice-presidents

Bishops of the Church of England

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Our impact 2022/23
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Honorary vice-presidents

Mrs A Lush MBE Dr N de M Rudolf MA BM BCh FRSM

Young trustees

Abby and Pepper Bilkis Cree James, started March 2023 Laura Linh, up to October 2022 Maryam Samia Taha

Members of committees

Vincent Anane-Nimoh (b) Sara Boiten (c) Duncan Brown (appointed January 2023) (c) Simon Foster (left in January 2023) (a) Alison Hopkinson (a) Shivani Patel (b) Gavanjit Sian (a) Leon Ward (c) Vanessa Whitehead (c)

Board of trustees

Diana Noble, Chair (appointed 22 July 2022) Janet Legrand, previous Chair (term completed in November 2022) (b) The Rt Rev’d Elizabeth Lane, Bishop of Derby, Vice-chair (c) Christopher Gillies, Honorary Treasurer (a) (b) Amelia Torode (c) David Ramsden (a) Deborah Harris-Ugbomah FCA (b) Diane Blausten (c) Florence Kroll (b) Helen Keppel-Compton (a) Jim Clifford OBE (b) Nasima Patel (b) Sam Monaghan (c) Sarah Payne CBE (a) (c)

Company Secretary

Elizabeth Walker

a. Member of the Finance and Investment Committee

b. Member of the Risk, Audit and Compliance Committee

c. Member of the Organisational Development Committee

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Trustee board and committee attendance

Name	Trustee	Finance and	Organisational	Risk,	Trustee
	board	Investment	Development	Audit, and	board away
		Committee	Committee	Compliance	days
				Committee
Trustee board members
Janet Legrand KC	2/2		2/2	1/3	2/2
(Hon), chair (ret.
Nov 2022)
Diana Noble CBE,	3/3	2/2	3/3	2/2	1/1
chair designate
and chair (appt. Jul
2022)
Bishop Libby Lane,	3/4		2/4		0/2
vice chair
Diane Blausten	4/4		4/4		1/1
(sabbatical Jan to
Jun 2022)
Jim Cliford	4/4			3/4	2/2
Chris Gillies	4/4	4/4		4/4	2/2
Deborah Harris	4/4			4/4	0/2
Ugbomah FCA
Helen Keppel-	2/4	2/4			2/2
Compton
Florence Kroll	4/4			3/4	2/2
Sam Monaghan	3/3		2/3		0/0
(sabbatical May to
Oct 2022)
Nasima Patel	2/4			3/4	2/2
Sarah Payne	3/4	2/4	3/4		2/2
David Ramsden	4/4	3/4			2/2
Amelia Torode	3/4		2/4		2/2

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Our impact 2022/23

Name	Trustee	Finance and	Organisational	Risk,	Trustee
	board	Investment	Development	Audit, and	board away
		Committee	Committee	Compliance	days
				Committee
Committee members
Vincent Anane-				3/4
Nimoh
Sara Boiten			3/4
Duncan Brown			2/2
(appt. Jan 2023)
Simon Foster (left		3/3
Jan 2023)
Alison Hopkinson		2/4
Shivani Patel				3/4
Gavanjit Sian		3/4
Leon Ward			2/4
Vanessa Whitehead			3/4

Mark Russell

Executive Director, Enabling Resources

Elizabeth Walker

Executive Director, Social Impact

Joe Jenkins

Executive Director, Youth Impact

Nerys Anthony

Executive Director, Diversity and Talent

Michelle Clark

External Auditor

Haysmacintyre LLP, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1AG

Bankers

Barclays plc, 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP

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The Children’s Society

Thank you to our supporters

Armed Forces
BBC Children in Need
Bupa UK Foundation
Coinstar Ltd
Helpcards Ltd
Islamic Relief Worldwide
Kennedys Law LLP
Khaadi Corporation Limited
Lankelly Chase
Letterbox Redd Ltd
Manchester Airport Group
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
National Lottery Community Fund
Rubie’s Masquerade UK
Sport England
The Aim Foundation
The Co-op Foundation
The Samworth Foundation
The Worshipful Company of Plaisterers
Wahegru Foundation

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The Children’s Society

Glossary

Glossary
All Party Parliamentary Group	APPG
Carbon dioxide equivalent	CO2E
Department for Education	DfE
Department of Health and Social Care	DHSC
Disrupting Exploitation	DEx
Educational mental health practitioner	EMHP
Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme	ESOS
Equity, diversity, and inclusion	EDI
Essex Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Service	EYPDAS
Health Education England	HEE
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse	IICSA
Independent Review of Children’s Social Care	IRCSC
Kilowatt hour	kWh
Mental health support team	MHST
Ofce for National Statistics	ONS
Safeguarding Children at Risk - Protection and Action	SCARPA
Tackling Child Exploitation support programme	TCE
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child	UNCRC
Youth-Led Commission on Separated Children	YLCSC

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Endnotes

1. In 2022, 11% of children aged 10 to 17 completing our annual household survey scored below the midpoint on the 0 to 20 scale of our multi-item measure of overall life satisfaction, which is based on Huebner’s Student Life Satisfaction Scale (The Children’s Society. The Good Childhood Report 2022. 2022 [cited 2023 Jul 20. Available from: childrenssociety. org.uk/good-childhood ).

2. Department for Work and Pensions. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/collections/ households-below-average-incomehbai--2 .

3. See our systems change resource pack for further information: flipsnack.com/ CA7CFEBBDC9/systems-changeresource-pack/full-view.html .

4. Survey response rates are hard to calculate as they depend on many factors. A 2022 meta-analysis of peerreviewed research in education-related fields indicated an average response rate of 44.1% for online surveys (see: Wu M, Zhao K, and Fils-Aime F. Response rates of online surveys in published research: A meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior Reports. 7. 2022. Available from: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S2451958822000409#sec3 ). However,

a leading survey provider indicates that response rates can be more like 20-30% across online surveys (see: Qualtrics. How to increase survey response rates [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: qualtrics.com/uk/experiencemanagement/research/improve-

survey-response/ ). We recognise our response rates to feedback surveys are generally low, so we have used 20% as a

threshold for reporting here, but we are seeking to improve this response rate across our services.

5. These trends are based on analysis of responses to a question in the Understanding Society survey, asking children aged 10 to 15 how they feel about their life as a whole. See The Good Childhood Report 2022.

6. These findings are based on our 2022 survey of over 2,000 children aged 10 to 17. See The Good Childhood Report 2022.

7. YoungMinds. Mental Health Waiting Times Harming Young People [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 15]. Available from: youngminds.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/ press-releases/mental-health-waitingtimes-harming-young-people/ .

8. For more information, see: Department for Education. Mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 16]. Available from: gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-andwellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleg es .

9. A 2021 systemic review indicated that there is some evidence that dialectical behavioural therapy for adolescents (DBT-A) may be effective at reducing the repetition of self-harm. See: Witt KG, Hawton K, Hetrick SE, Taylor Salisbury TL, Townsend E, Hazell P. Interventions for selfharm in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2021 Mar 7; 3(3). Available from: pubmed.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/33677832 .

10. See: Department for Health and Social Care. Mental health and wellbeing plan: discussion paper and call for evidence [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 16]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ consultations/mental-health-and-wellbeing-plan-discussion-paper-and-callfor-evidence .

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11. See: Department for Health and Social Care. Major conditions strategy: call for evidence [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ consultations/major-conditions-strategy-call-for-evidence/major-conditions-strategy-call-for-evidence .

12. See, for example: UK Trauma Council. Complex trauma [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: uktraumacouncil.org/ trauma/complex-trauma .

13. The Children’s Society. Young carer resources [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/ information/professionals/young-carers/resources-for-people-working-withyoung-carers .

14. See: Office for National Statistics. Unpaid care by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/socialcare/articles/ unpaidcarebyagesexanddeprivationenglandandwales/census2021 .

15. See: Department for Education. Schools, pupils and their characteristics. 2023 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics .

16. Young Carers Alliance. Open letter to the Prime Minister [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: carers.org/young-carers-alliance/pm-open-letter .

17. See: Children’s Commissioner. Family and its protective effect – Part 1 of the Independent Family Review 2 [Internet]. 2022. [cited 21 June 2023]. Available from:

assets.childrenscommissioner.gov. uk/wpuploads/2022/12/cc-familyand-its-protective-effect-part-1-of-theindependent-family-review-.pdf .

18. There is no single source of data that quantifies the number of children who

are risk of or impacted by these issues. However, data from the National Referral Mechanism shows that in 2022 7,019 potential child victims of modern slavery were referred. This is a 9% increase on the previous year, but, being based on referrals, is also considered to be an undercount (see: Home Office. Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify Statistics UK, End of Year Summary 2022 [Internet]. 2023. [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov. uk/government/statistics/modernslavery-national-referral-mechanismand-duty-to-notify-statisticsuk-end-of-year-summary-2022/ modern-slavery-national-referralmechanism-and-duty-to-notifystatistics-uk-end-of-yearsummary-2022 ).

Additionally, in 2021/22, the NSPCC’s Helpline contacted agencies about 22,505 children to investigate concerns about abuse and neglect (see NSPCC. Half a million children suffer abuse in the UK every year [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 17]. Available from: nspcc.org.uk/about-us/ news-opinion/2022/childhood-day ).

And NSPCC analysis of police-recorded crime data revealed that there had been a 10% increase in the number of child sexual exploitation crimes reported between 2020/21 and 2021/22.See NSPCC. Child sexual exploitation crimes up 10% in the last year [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 17]. Available from: nspcc.org.uk/aboutus/news-opinion/2022/child-sexualexploitation-crimes-up-10-in-the-lastyear/ ).

19. See GOV.UK. Characteristics of children in need, reporting year 2020 [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: explore-education-statistics.service. gov.uk/find-statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need . Children in need are a legally defined group of children (under the Children Act 1989), assessed as

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needing help and protection as a result of risks to their development or health.

20. See CSA Centre. The scale and nature of CSA [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: csacentre.org.uk/our-research/the-scale-and-nature-of-csa/ infographics/ .

In 2021/22, local authority children’s services in England recorded concerns about child sexual abuse in 33,990 assessments of children, a 15% increase on the previous year (compared to a rise of only 3% in the total number of assessments). This is the highest level of identified concerns of child sexual abuse since 2014/15 when this information started to be collected (see CSA Centre. Child sexual abuse in 2021/22 – trends in official data [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: csacentre.org.uk/ documents/child-sexual-abuse-in-202122-trends-in-official-data/ .

The CSA Centre looks at data sourced from GOV.UK. Statistics: children in need and child protection. Available from: gov. uk/government/statistics-children-inneed#characteristics-of-children-inneed .

21. Department for Work and Pensions. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/collections/ households-below-average-incomehbai--2 .

22. Barnardo’s. At what cost? The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on children and young people [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: barnardos.org.uk/ sites/default/files/2022-10/At%20 what%20cost_impact%20of%20 cost%20of%20living%20final%20report.pdf .

23. Recent evidence suggests that income has a significant impact on the numbers of children being neglected and abused (see Bywaters P and Skinner G. The Relationship Between Poverty and Child Abuse and Neglect: New Evidence [Internet]. University of Huddersfield and Nuffield Foundation. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: research.hud.ac.uk/media/assets/ document/hhs/RelationshipBetweenPovertyChildAbuseandNeglect_Report. pdf ).

While data on the links between child exploitation and poverty is limited, we know that the additional stresses and limitations on choices poverty creates can increase the dangers young people face. When families are struggling to pay for the essentials, many children take on these money worries, feeling pressured to supplement their parents’ incomes, and criminals take advantage of this, promising quick cash, gifts, a place to stay, or lifts to and from school or work. Anecdotally, evidence from our direct practice suggests that these issues are increasing as more and more families face impossible financial decisions.

24. Local Government Association. Tackling child exploitation: resources pack [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: local.gov.uk/publications/tacklingchild-exploitation-resources-pack .

25. Choi Namkee G, DiNitto Diana M, Marti Nathan C, and Choi Bryan Y. Association of adverse childhood experiences with lifetime mental and substance use disorders among men and women aged 50+ years. International Psychogeriatrics. 2017; 29(3): 359-72. Available from: cambridge. org/core/journals/internationalpsychogeriatrics/article/associationof-adverse-childhood-experienceswith-lifetime-mental-and-substanceuse-disorders-among-men-and-womenaged-50-years/0579498316F070E4945E5EA9F1407BE5 .

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26. National Children’s Bureau. ’It’s Our Care’ Day of Action [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: ncb.org.uk/whatwe-do/influencing-policy/policy-campaigns-and-projects/its-our-care-dayaction .

27. GOV.UK. Independent review of children’s social care [Internet]. [cited 16 June 2023]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ groups/independent-review-of-childrens-social-care .

28. O’Brien, Susanna and Vivian, John. The Children’s Society’s Climb service [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/information/professionals/child-exploitation/ climb .

29. More information about our Exploitation Awareness Toolkit is available from: register.childrenssociety.org.uk/ page/111066/data/1 .

30. Habitus Collective. Evaluation of the Prevention programme [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jul 21]. Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/information/professionals/ resources/working-with-prevention .

31. Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. Young people’s substance misuse treatment statistics 2020 to 2021: report [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 14]. Available from: gov.uk/ government/statistics/substancemisuse-treatment-for-youngpeople-statistics-2020-to-2021/ young-peoples-substance-misusetreatment-statistics-2020-to-2021report .

32. See recommendation 15 in Dame Carol Black’s independent review (Department for Health and Social Care. Review of drugs part two: prevention, treatment, and recovery [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ publications/review-of-drugs-phasetwo-report/review-of-drugs-part-twoprevention-treatment-and-recovery ).

33. Department for Education. SEND and alternative provision improvement plan [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ publications/send-and-alternativeprovision-improvement-plan .

34. Lamrhari D, Davies L, Graham L, and Nickolds F. Youth Voice SEND and Exclusions report [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: flipsnack. com/CA7CFEBBDC9/youth-voice-sendand-exclusions-report/full-view.html .

35. The University of Bedfordshire, Research in Practice, and The Children’s Society. Multiagency Practice Principles for responding to child exploitation and extra-familial harm [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: tce.researchinpractice.org.uk .

36. See: Sturrock, Rachel and Holmes, Lucy. Running the risks: The links between gang involvement and young people going missing [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: oscb.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/Catch22Running-The-Risks.pdf .

37. See: Missing People. Children’s views on being reported missing from care [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: missingpeople.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2021/04/Childrens_views_on_ being_reported_missing_from_care.pdf .

38. The Missing Children Response Assessment Tool is available here: surveygizmo.eu/s3/90245008/Benchmarking-Tool-Missing-Children .

39. See, for example, The Children’s Society. The First Step [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Jun 14]. Available from: childrenssociety. org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-10/ the-first-step.pdf .

40. Davies, Tom. The Knowledge Gap [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/ basw_63409-9_0.pdf .

41. The Children’s Society and the National Youth Advocacy Service Cymru. Missing the

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Point Report [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: nyas.s3.eu-west-1. amazonaws.com/NewsCampaigns/ Campaigns/Missing-the-Point-ReportEL-Nov.2020-1.pdf .

42. The Children’s Society is mentioned in recommendation 21. See: Welsh Parliament Children, Young People and Education Committee. If not now, then when? Radical reform for care experienced children and young people [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: senedd.wales/ media/1okpjizg/cr-ld15849-e.pdf .

43. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Not heating, eating or meeting bills: managing a cost of living crisis on a low income [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 19 Jul]. Available from:

jrf.org.uk/report/not-heating-eatingor-meeting-bills-managing-cost-livingcrisis-low-income .

44. 4.2 million children in the UK were living in poverty in 2021/22 (29% of children). See Department for Work and Pensions. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/collections/ households-below-average-incomehbai--2 .

45. Based on information in Francis-Devine B. Poverty in the UK: statistics [Internet]. House of Commons Library. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/ documents/SN07096/SN07096.pdf .

For example, the proportion of people in relative low income before housing costs was 20% for families where someone is disabled, compared to 15% for people living in families where no one is disabled. People in households from a Bangladeshi or Pakistani ethnic group experienced the highest poverty rate before housing costs between 2019/20 and 2021/22 at 39% (23% higher than households from white ethnic groups, and rising to 53% after housing costs) and

26% of people in households from a black ethnic group were in poverty before housing costs (rising to 40% after).

46. Department for Work and Pensions. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/collections/ households-below-average-incomehbai--2 .

47. GOV.UK. Immigration system statistics. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/statistics/ immigration-system-statisticsyear-ending-march-2023/list-oftables#asylum-and-resettlement .

48. The Migration Observatory. Children of migrants in the UK [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/ resources/briefings/children-ofmigrants-in-the-uk .

49. See Elliot, I. Poverty and mental health [Internet]. 2016. [cited 19 June 2023]. Available from: mentalhealth.org.uk/ sites/default/files/2022-08/povertyand-mental-health-report.pdf .

50. ”Only 57% of children [at 5] who are eligible for free school meals are assessed as having a good level of development in meeting early learning goals, compared with 74% of children from better off households.” See: Tahir I. The UK education system preserves inequality – new report [Internet]. Institute for Fiscal Studies. 2022. [cited 20 June 2023]. Available from: ifs. org.uk/articles/uk-education-systempreserves-inequality-new-report .

51. Local Government Association. Tackling child exploitation: resources pack [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: local.gov.uk/publications/tacklingchild-exploitation-resources-pack .

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52. RCPCH. Child health inequalities driven by child poverty in the UK – position statement [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 25]. Available from: rcpch.ac.uk/resources/ child-health-inequalities-positionstatement#evidence-of-how-povertydrives-health-inequalities-in-the-uk .

53. Department for Work and Pensions. Estimated number and type of GB families and individuals in families benefitting from the up-rating of benefits in 2023 to 2024 [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ statistics/families-and-individualsin-families-benefitting-from-the-uprating-of-benefits-2023-to-2024/ estimated-number-and-type-of-gbfamilies-and-individuals-in-familiesbenefitting-from-the-up-rating-ofbenefits-in-2023-to-2024 .

54. Department for Work and Pensions. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/collections/ households-below-average-incomehbai--2 .

55. Child Poverty Action Group. Official figures – 4 million children could lose out if benefits are uprated with wages [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: cpag. org.uk/news-blogs/news-listings/ official-figures-%C2%A04-millionchildren-could-lose-out-if-benefits-areuprated .

56. Department for Work and Pensions. Estimated number and type of GB families and individuals in families benefitting from the up-rating of benefits in 2023 to 2024 [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ statistics/families-and-individualsin-families-benefitting-from-the-uprating-of-benefits-2023-to-2024/ estimated-number-and-type-of-gb-

families-and-individuals-in-familiesbenefitting-from-the-up-rating-ofbenefits-in-2023-to-2024 .

57. Based on the number of families capped on Universal Credit (104,000) and Housing Benefit (9,600) in February 2023 (see: Department for Work and Pensions. Benefit cap: number of households capped to February 2023. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 19]. Available from: gov.uk/government/ statistics/benefit-cap-number-ofhouseholds-capped-to-february-2023/ benefit-cap-number-of-householdscapped-to-february-2023 ).

58. Roberts, E, Stephens, R, Sutcliffe, R, and Grauberg, J. CCS Programme Evaluation [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/ information/professionals/resources/ coordinated-community-supportprogramme-evaluation .

59. The estimated number of families impacted is based on dividing the £140 million no longer ringfenced for pensioners by the average amount awarded from the Household Support Fund, according to Government figures for April to September 2022. 2.3 million families is the maximum possible, as some money may still be spent supporting pensioners and some families may receive one than one award. See: Department for Work and Pensions. Household Support Fund 2 management information for 1 April to 30 September 2022. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 20]. Available from: gov.uk/government/publications/ household-support-fund-2management-information-1-april-to-30september-2022/household-supportfund-2-management-information-for-1april-to-30-september-2022 .

60. Based on a single mother with two children, who, for a 2.5 year visa, are required to pay a visa fee of £1,048 each (see: Home Office. Home Office immigration and nationality fees: 13 April 2023 [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from:

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gov.uk/government/publications/ visa-regulations-revised-table/homeoffice-immigration-and-nationality-

fees-13-april-2023 ), plus 2.5 years of the Immigration Health Surcharge at £624/ year for adult applicants, and £470/year for applicants under 18. See: GOV.UK. Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application [Internet]. [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: gov.uk/healthcareimmigration-application/how-muchpay .

For further information on the estimated costs of the route to settlement, see Table 5 in The Children‘s Society. A Lifeline for All [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: childrenssociety.org.uk/ sites/default/files/2020-11/a-lifelinefor-all-report.pdf .

61. By the end of 2021, there were at least 224,576 children under age 18 who would be expected to have NRPF based on their visa status (Table 2). See: The Migration Observatory. Children of migrants in the UK [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: migrationobservatory. ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/childrenof-migrants-in-the-uk .

UK’s examination of the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of the UK took place at the 93rd session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 18 and 19 May 2023. The UK was last examined by the UN Committee in 2016.

65. The Children’s Society. Society newsletter [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: flipsnack.com/ CA7CFEBBDC9/society-newslettersummer-2022-tiqo8f8unf/full-view. html .

66. The Children’s Society. Our commitment to anti-racist practice on our continuous journey [Internet]. The Children’s Society. 2022 [cited 21 June 2023]. Available from: thechildrenssociety.medium.com/ our-commitment-to-anti-racist-practice-on-our-continuous-journey-7afec00ded54 .

62. The Children’s Society. Society newsletter [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 21]. Available from: flipsnack.com/ CA7CFEBBDC9/society-newslettersummer-2022-tiqo8f8unf/full-view. html .

63. In the podcast, the YLCSC members talked about their campaign and the Government’s immigration policies, including the current accommodation of children in hotels and the UK-Rwanda asylum agreement. The podcast is available online at bit.ly/3yHLbcb and bit. ly/3FuXRHb .

64. The UN report is available here: tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/ treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?s ymbolno=CRC%2FC%2FGBR%2FCO %2F6-7&Lang=en . See Article 50 (g). The

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Every young person should have the right to be safe, happy, and hopeful about their future.

That’s why we run services and campaigns to help children transform their lives and to change the systems that are putting young people in danger. Together, we can protect every childhood.

Twitter: @childrensociety Tel: 0300 303 7000

© The Children’s Society 2023. The copyright of all material appearing in this publication belongs to The Children’s Society. It may not be reproduced, duplicated or copied by any means without our prior written consent.

Charity Registration No. 221124 Photos: Chris O’Donovan, Francis Augusto, Ieva Umbrasaite, Laura McClusky. OB54/0823.

2023-03-31-accounts

impact

Contents

Chair’s introduction

CEO’s introduction

Our year in review, 2022/23

Working with young people

Working for change

Team TCS

Our finances

Looking ahead

Where we work

1. Our mission, vision, and values

Our vision

Our goal

We’re brave, unafraid to

We’re ambitious for the

We’re supportive and always

chance.”

2. Our impact and achievements 2022/23

2.1. How we delivered our objectives

Objective 1: Emotional health and wellbeing

Objective 2: Risk and vulnerability

We developed a missing children response benchmarking

We developed a new child exploitation prevention e-learning

Objective 3: Child poverty

Our Strengthen the Safety Net campaign helped to make an

Objective 4: Building a community

Objective 5: Growth and sustainability

2.2. The areas of work we prioritise and why

Figure 7.

How we measure impact

2.3. Emotional health and wellbeing

In 2022/23:

1,609 parents and carers

5,605 children and young

3,030 professionals

43,281 children and

106,050 young people

What are emotional health and wellbeing?

Wellbeing and mental health – what’s the difference?

2.3.1. Tailoring wellbeing interventions to children’s needs

The right support at the right time

Looking forward

Daniel’s story

Looking forward

The Children’s Society

2.3.2. Supporting children who have experienced abuse or trauma

Offering therapeutic support

Here for families

Natasha’s story

2.3.3. Making sure young carers’ voices are heard

Making young carers visible

Opportunities for participation

Young person

2.4. Risk and vulnerability

In 2022/23:

201 parents and carers

2,482 children and young

9,498 children and young

633,570 young people

What do we mean by risk?

What do we know about the risks children are facing?

How does our work impact the risks children are facing?

2.4.1. Protecting children from exploitation

Early intervention

Young person

Partner

Promoting participation

LookCloser to prevent exploitation

A new way to support young people

Parent

Webinar attendee

Working in partnership to influence national responses

The Tackling Child Exploitation (TCE) support programme was

Looking ahead

Katie’s story

“The Children’s Society puts .” hope back into children Katie

2.4.2. Improving support for children who go missing from home or care

Here to listen, here to help