Action for Children

What Action for Children does

Action for Children is a UK-registered charity (charity number 1097940 in England and Wales, SC038092 in Scotland) incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, headquartered in Watford with regional offices in Glasgow, Cardiff, and Belfast. Originally founded in 1869 as the National Children's Home (NCH) and later rebranded to its present name, the organization has operated for 156 years. It delivers its mission through 342 local services across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with a workforce of 1,001-5,000 employees.

The charity's service portfolio spans fostering (recruiting and supporting foster families in all four UK nations), adoption, early-years nurseries (operated through the wholly-owned subsidiary Action for Children Developments Ltd, trading as Spring Nurseries), and community-based family support. Digital and remote services include Parent Talk (free online parenting advice for parents of children aged 0-19, with expert articles and 1:1 live chat with qualified parenting coaches) and Sidekick (a confidential text-message support service for young carers aged 13-18). The organization also pursues policy and advocacy work on child poverty, including research collaborations with bodies such as the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Action for Children is funded through a diversified mix: individual donations (one-off and recurring, with Gift Aid), challenge-event fundraising (e.g., London Marathon, Great North Run, Boycott Your Bed), corporate partnerships (B&Q Foundation, Dell, John Lewis Partnership, Nationwide, Starling Bank, Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, among others), legacy gifts, government contracts from local authorities for fostering and commissioned child welfare programmes, and commercial revenue from Spring Nurseries. The organization reports that 84p of every £1 spent goes directly to helping children and families. In 2024/25, it reports helping 551,400 children, young people, and families. No revenue figure is disclosed in available sources.

Name

Action for Children

Legal name

Action for Children

Website

https://actionforchildren.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1869

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Action for Children is a UK-registered charity founded in 1869 that supports vulnerable children, young people, and families through 342 local services across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its portfolio spans fostering, adoption, nurseries, family support, and digital services including Parent Talk and Sidekick.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Social Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Individual and Family Services (6241), Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Welfare, Foster Care & Adoption Services (BPAGAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG), Family Coaching, Parent-Mediated & Home Visiting EI Services (EDACAFAJ)

Keywords

• Children's social services
• Fostering services
• Child welfare support
• Family support services
• Children's mental health

Headquarters

HQ city

Watford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations from individual supporters. Includes Gift Aid scheme for tax reclamation on eligible donations.
2. Fundraising Events: Revenue from challenge events such as London Marathon (requiring £125 entry donation and £2,600 fundraising target), community fundraising, and corporate events.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporate sponsors including B&Q Foundation, Dell, John Lewis Partnership, Nationwide, Starling Bank, and others who provide financial and promotional support.
4. Legacy Gifts: Gifts left in wills by supporters. The charity has received legacy gifts for over 150 years and provides specific guidance for executors on legacy administration.
5. Government Contracts: Funding from local authorities for fostering services and commissioned child welfare programmes across the UK.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Action for Children is a UK children's charity that delivers direct services to vulnerable children, young people, and families, including fostering and adoption, nurseries, family support, mental health support, and youth advocacy programmes. It supplements service delivery with policy and campaigning work on issues such as child poverty, and funds its mission through donations, fundraising, corporate partnerships, and government-commissioned contracts.

Product overview

Action for Children is a leading UK children's charity offering a broad portfolio of practical, emotional, and advocacy services. The core offerings include fostering and adoption services across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; 342 local community services; nurseries under the Spring Nurseries brand; and specialist programmes including Parent Talk (online parenting coaching and advice), Sidekick (confidential text support for young carers aged 13–18), and Youth Voice advocacy. Fundraising channels include online donations, regular giving, challenge events (e.g., London Marathon), the annual Secret Santa Christmas Appeal, Boycott Your Bed campaign, corporate partnerships, legacy giving, and workplace payroll giving. The charity operates under a charitable structure (registered in England & Wales No. 1097940 / SC038092) and has been active since 1869, having evolved from the National Children's Home.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Action for Children Fostering: The fostering arm of the charity that recruits and supports foster families across the UK in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
• Spring Nurseries

Products and services

• Action for Children Fostering

Quantifiable outcome

• 551,400 children, young people and families helped in 2024/25
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• B&Q FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner providing financial support and potentially in-kind contributions to Action for Children's community programmes.
• DellcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate technology partner supporting Action for Children through charitable donations and employee engagement.
• John Lewis PartnershipcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor UK retailer partnership providing financial support and potentially workplace giving opportunities for employees.
• Nationwide Building SocietycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerBuilding society corporate partner supporting Action for Children through charitable donations and fundraising.
• Starling BankcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDigital bank partnership supporting Action for Children through corporate giving programme.
• Iceland Foods Charitable FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLead partner for Secret Santa Christmas campaign, providing significant funding for Christmas appeal to support children in poverty.
• Turner & TownsendminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProfessional services firm corporate partner supporting Action for Children through donations and employee fundraising.
• Kier GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerConstruction and infrastructure company corporate partner for Action for Children.
• Ella's KitchenminorGTM or Marketing PartnerChildren's food brand partnership supporting Action for Children.
• Jojo Maman BebeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBaby and children's retailer partnership supporting Action for Children.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Barnardo's: Barnardo's is the UK's largest children's charity, operating fostering, adoption, family support and mental health services across the UK. It is the most direct comparable to Action for Children given overlapping service portfolio, UK-wide footprint, and similar reliance on donations and statutory contracts.
• NSPCC: The NSPCC is the UK's leading child protection charity, running safeguarding helplines, therapeutic services, and prevention programmes. Comparable to Action for Children in donor-funded operating model and overlap on neglect, abuse and child protection work.
• The Children's Society: The Children's Society runs UK-wide services for disadvantaged children including exploitation prevention, mental health support, and young carers programmes - the latter directly overlapping Action for Children's Sidekick service. Comparable in mission, fundraising model and beneficiary base.
• Home-Start UK: Home-Start supports families with young children through volunteer-led home visiting and family support. Directly comparable to Action for Children's early years and parenting support segments, including its Parent Talk online coaching service.
• National Children's Bureau: NCB is a UK children's charity and policy body covering early years, disability, youth justice and child welfare. Comparable to Action for Children on advocacy, research-led influence (similar to AfC's IPPR collaborations), and breadth of family/children services.
• TACT (The Adolescent & Children's Trust): TACT is a UK fostering and adoption charity operating across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Directly comparable to Action for Children Fostering on fostering service model, therapeutic support, and transfer-in recruitment from other agencies.
• Family Action: Family Action is a UK charity delivering early years, family support, mental health and social services. Comparable to Action for Children on broad family services portfolio and reliance on local-authority commissioning and donations.
• Spurgeons Children's Charity: Spurgeons operates family support, fostering and prison-visiting children's services across the UK. Directly comparable to Action for Children on fostering, family support, and faith-rooted charity heritage, though smaller in scale.

Emerging players

• Place2Be: Place2Be provides school-based mental health counselling and emotional support for children. Overlaps with Action for Children on children's mental health and wellbeing, but narrower scope focused on schools-based delivery rather than community/fostering services.
• Together for Short Lives: Together for Short Lives is a UK charity supporting children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Adjacent to Action for Children's families-with-disabled-children segment with overlapping family support and respite themes but a more specialized beneficiary cohort.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/actnforchildren
• Facebookfacebook.com/ActionforChildren
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/action-for-children

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Action for Children