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Action for Children is the UK's leading children's charity. We help the most vulnerable children and young people in the UK break through injustice, deprivation and inequality, so they can achieve their full potential.

Action for Children began in 1869 when Thomas Bowman Stephenson opened the doors of a new children’s home to homeless boys in London. He wanted to make them safe from poverty and crime. Over the years, Action for Children has grown and diversified, but we continue to be driven by those same beliefs that motivated Rev. Stephenson’s first children’s home. Today, we run nearly 450 projects supporting nearly 170,000 children, young people and families.

We would like this website to build upon and strengthen our 139 years of history and heritage; we would also like this website to be as interactive as possible, so please send us any pictures, videos, stories, or any other information you may have. We do request that you have the appropriate permissions to post photos of other people before sending them to us. If you have any questions about permissions please let us know.

Registered charity nos.1097940/SC038092 Company no.4764232

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Action for Children Heritage and History

Please donate now to help us make Action for Children’s history available to all. By being better informed about our past, we can work together towards a brighter future for children.

With a history spanning over 139 years, the phrase ‘you have to know the past to understand the present’ is nowhere more applicable than with Action for Children.

It is in homage to our rich history and the people who shaped it that we built this website. From Revd Thomas Bowman Stephenson to former home residents to people who have remember Action for Children in their Will, the many people who have contributed to Action for Children, and continue to contribute to Action for Children, strengthen our long history.

Over the years Action for Children has had many people take an interest in the history and heritage of the organisation. We have led the charity sector providing former home residents, and their descendants, with access to their Action for Children files, giving both individuals and families a wealth of information about their childhood.

We are currently trying to expand on this service, by making more and more information about particular homes and the past work of Action for Children accessible for all. We want to provide everyone with information about the branch(es) where they grew up, the place where they worked, and the charity they supported.

However, this vital work can only be accomplished with your support. It costs Action for Children both time and money to retrieve, catalogue, digitise and make accessible our many historical photos, documents, recordings, and artefacts.