The Childhood Trust

Our charity partners continue to grow: a celebration with The Felix Project✨ This afternoon, our Founder, Grant Gordon OBE, and Interim CEO, Neha Mahendru, attended The Felix Project’s Multibank Launch Event. For six years, The Felix Project has been a valued charity partner of ours, and today we celebrate with them the start of an exciting new chapter. With the support from Amazon, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and many other key supporters, this new initiative is set to help over 40,000 families across the capital in the next year. We are incredibly proud to be a champion of The Felix Project and can’t wait to see all the incredible things they’ll achieve in this new chapter! 

From storage cupboard to study break den! 🛠 While schools are on their summer break, our Volunteer Team has been busier than ever. Last month, with the generous help of SC Johnson Lifestyle Brands, we transformed a modest storage cupboard, into a cosy, personalised space for an 8-year-old boy. This young boy, who shares his bedroom with his 18-month-old brother, has endured the challenges of living in a hotel for six months. We created a retreat he could call his own - a delightful space where he could play, do homework, read, and dream. His excitement was contagious as he realised he had his very own den within the family home. We can’t thank our wonderful volunteers enough for making this day, and every other day this summer, possible. Their dedication and hard work have made a lasting impact on this young boy’s life, bringing smiles that will be remembered not just for a summer, but for years to come.

📢 Calling all charity partners, old and new!  From one campaign to another, applications for the Big Give Christmas Challenge are open, and the deadline has been extended to Friday, 19th July. If you thought you’d missed the window to apply, now’s your chance to do so! As a Champion Funder, we raised £4.2 million for 88 charity partners last Christmas. This year, we’re aiming even higher. If your charity (or one you know!) helps to alleviate the impact of poverty on children in London - ensuring they are safe, healthy, resilient and confident - apply today via the link below to secure unrestricted matched funding from us. You can double the difference this Christmas. Don’t miss out - apply today and join our charity network! For more information, click the link below or contact our Campaigns team at [email protected]/. ➡ Apply today: https://lnkd.in/dW_Kgnbt

Dragon’s race to end child poverty in London!    Two weeks ago, we put on our raincoats and headed to Surrey Docks to watch dragons and doctors (we even spotted Wally) race on water, raising an incredible £23,161 for the children of London.    Royal Bank of Canada’s annual C&IB Dragon Boat Race has become a cherished tradition, raising funds for a chosen charity, and this year marked their first race since the pandemic. We are incredibly grateful to RBC's C&IB Analysts & Associates Committee for selecting The Childhood Trust and supporting the 700,000 children living in poverty in London, especially for braving the wet and cold weather when it should have been June sunshine.    Despite their wings and hats getting caught in the wind, their determination to row across the finishing line mirrors our determination to end child poverty in London.    We can’t thank all those involved enough for taking on this challenge. Their generous donation will go towards funding 84 projects this summer, ensuring every child living in poverty in London is better equipped and prepared for life. ✨   

It's been another record-breaking campaign! ✨🎉 Thanks to our network's generosity and support, and the hard work of our charity delivery partners, together we’ve raised £5,006,400 in this year's Champions for Children Campaign. That's more than a 40% increase from last year! Over the next 12 months, these funds will fuel a variety of programmes through our 84 charity delivery partners across all 32 London Boroughs, impacting the lives of 185,000 children living in poverty. We can’t wait to witness the profound impact our delivery partners will make. To stay updated on their impactful work, sign up for our newsletter via the link below. Thank you for being a part of this vital mission and congratulations again, to all our charity delivery partners! They are the true Champions for Children who are helping to break the cycle of poverty for children in London. Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/euBQvWvk

A day to remember at the House of Commons! 🌟 Yesterday, we had the honour of hosting some of our supporters and charity partners at the House of Commons to celebrate our 5th Champions for Children Campaign. We came together to celebrate the achievements and impact of the campaign so far, with this year’s campaign looking to be our most successful yet, aiming to raise £4.7 million for 185,000 children in London. We also unveiled our new research paper, shared some powerful stories from the children of London in our latest film, and heard from an inspiring young person from The Baytree Centre. Ultimately, we came together to refocus on our shared mission: ending child poverty in London. We can't thank our community enough for their continued support and hard work. To help us with our mission and continue raising the voices of children in London through our research, please consider donating today via the link below. For the next week, your donation will be doubled, supporting over 185,000 children in London ✨   Donate today: https://lnkd.in/ezXP63xk  

As we head into week two of our #ChampionsforChildren campaign and as students sit their GCSEs and A levels, we’ve released new research revealing the devastating impact of poverty on education. Our report, titled " Designed to be Unfair" - The impact of disadvantage on pupils in English State Schools” analyses data from 1400 schools and 80 educational organisations attended by approximately 580,000 children (3-18yrs old). Here are some of our alarming findings: 🏫 Pupil Premium students face exclusion rates three times higher than their peers by Year 7, with a staggering 5.3% of students excluded in Year 11 compared to only 1.9% of non-Pupil Premium students. 💭 Pupil Premium students, those from disadvantaged backgrounds, start secondary school with mental health wellbeing scores approximately 10% lower than their peers, a gap that persists throughout their school years. 📉 By Year 11, the attendance rate for Pupil Premium students drops to 89%, compared to 94% for their more affluent counterparts, equating to approximately 45,300 fewer disadvantaged students attending regularly in England.   🍏 89% of charities reported inadequate nutrition among the 310,877 children they support, leading to malnutrition, obesity, and chronic illnesses that impair educational engagement. 🏡 84% of charities documented overcrowded living conditions for the children they serve, exposing them to high-stress levels that negatively impact learning. To learn more, watch our film and hear from the children of London themselves. Share their story with your network, and if you can, donate today via the link below to one of our delivery partners. Your donation will be doubled by us. Together, we can pave the way for 185,000 children to break free from the cycle of poverty. Donate today: https://lnkd.in/eicTSA2B Our full research film: https://lnkd.in/eJZSmZAs

With the general election approaching, we recently spoke with The Big Issue about the Liberal Democrats' new policy proposals on free school meals. While this policy is a step forward, we believe it must be extended to all school children, not just primary-aged pupils. To read more about our discussion, click the link below 🖱   https://lnkd.in/ebtCtx39

Our Champions for Children 2024 Campaign is now live! 🌟 From now until Tuesday, 18th June, we will match every donation made to our 84 incredible charity delivery partners. This year, our goal is to raise £4,734,434 in just two weeks, supporting 185,890 children living in poverty in London. With our summer research launching on Sunday, 9th June, we’ll be spotlighting our charity delivery partners on our social media this week. With 4.3 million children in the UK living in poverty, including 700,000 in London, this is an opportunity to bring our network together to help break the cycle of poverty this summer. To learn more about our charity delivery partners and how they are helping alleviate child poverty in London... 🖱 Follow us on our social media (@childhoodtrust) 👀 Click the link below 📅 Save the date for our research release next week. Be a part of the conversation so we can ensure every child has a happy, healthy and safe childhood this summer. https://lnkd.in/eicTSA2B

It's Volunteer Week and we have a special message for all our volunteers out there - THANK YOU! 🌟 As we gear up for the big launch of our Champions for Children 2024 Campaign tomorrow, today we want to shine a spotlight on our incredible volunteers – all 1,146 of you! Through our Decorate a Child’s Life Programme and our Adventure Playground Programme, you have have: ✨ Directly impacted the lives of 2,167 children living in poverty in London 🏡 Transformed 108 bedrooms, creating a safe and inspiring space for children 🏞 Completed 31 playground renovations, giving children places to play and grow ⏳ Dedicated 7,665 volunteer hours – that’s 292 days of hard work! We can’t thank our volunteers enough for embodying our core values of courage, care and collaboration. Together, we are breaking the cycle of poverty one bedroom and one playground at a time, ensuring every child has a happy, healthy and safe childhood. We believe that every week is Volunteer Week and we will continue to celebrate our community’s achievements and the inspiring stories behind them. 💛 If you’re inspired to join our dedicated community of volunteers and help us break the cycle of poverty one bedroom at a time, click the link below to learn how you and your organisation can get involved: https://lnkd.in/dQHtEk9p #VolunteerWeek