Action for Children

The Coronavirus pandemic is impacting every aspect of our lives. It’s also having an impact on businesses and charities, including Action for Children. We’re taking action now to ensure vulnerable children and families don’t slip through the net. As a valued supporter, I wanted to reassure you of the steps we have taken in response to Coronavirus.

We fear up to 40% of our fundraising income could be at risk and whilst the government support package of £750m is an important start, we don’t know if, or when, we will benefit from this. In the meantime, we are having to make difficult decisions around our expenditure to protect our cash flow and we’re using the governments job retention scheme by furloughing fundraising staff who are unable to work right now.

We have worked hard to keep 99% of our services open. They are still able to provide critical support during these unprecedented times with many of them adapting by moving online and on the phone. Our digital parenting site has already supported 50,000 families since lockdown began. For services that are operating as normal under public health guidelines, we have greater access to Coronavirus testing and have left no stone unturned to provide frontline staff with essential PPE supplies.

We knew vulnerable families would suffer the most during this pandemic, especially during lockdown, which is why we launched an Emergency Coronavirus Appeal. To date, we have raised over £650,000 and have already supported more than 4,500 children and their families – we truly have been blown away by the support we have received.

Due to UK fundraising events being cancelled or postponed, we are having to adapt and innovate quickly in this new world which is why we’ve launched virtual
events and challenges for supporters to take part in now – on your own or with with family and friends. To be able to continue to be there for vulnerable children, we are relying on amazing people, like you, to continue supporting us through these challenging times.

We meet with the Department of Education on a weekly basis so that children aren’t considered an afterthought during this pandemic. Our work to ensure children are recognised as victims, not just witnesses, of domestic abuse through the domestic abuse bill continues and we are working with other organisations in the sector as a unified voice on the £2.2 billion drop in funding for children’s services over the past ten years.