Spurgeons is a large national children's charity in the United Kingdom, working with vulnerable families, children and young people. It is based in Rushden, with several offices in the UK, and is a registered charity.
Spurgeons currently delivers more than 81 projects reaching over 37,000 children and 78,000 parents or carers every year. It aims to find long-lasting solutions to the challenges they face – including poverty, abuse problems, offending, and other social issues.
The Christian charity works in partnership with local authorities, churches, charitable foundations and other supporters to bring about lasting change.[1]
Spurgeons was founded in 1867 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.[2] as Stockwell Orphanage - due to its location.
The inspiration for starting an orphanage came from a visit with George Muller. and then spurred on by a donation of £20,000 by Anne Hillyard. However, it wasn't this £20,000 that was used to fund the beginning of the orphanage. Spurgeon records in the 1876 publicationThe Metropolitan Tabernacle. Its History and Works that the gift was railway debentures and a 'financial panic' meant that they couldn't be realised. Spurgeon then records that others gave to allow the land to be bought and houses to be built.
This involvement of individuals in the Orphanage continued throughout Spurgeon's life. In each monthly Sword and Trowel he recorded the gifts given. In the issue of December 1889 Spurgeon records that between October 15 and November 14 158 separate individuals, 275 collectors and 15 Orphanage choir appearances netted £797/12/1. This opened for boys in 1867 and for girls in 1879.
The orphanage continued in London until they were bombed in the Second World War. The orphanage changed its name to Spurgeon's Child Care in 1937,[3] and again in 2005 to Spurgeons.[4] [5]
Spurgeons was founded as a compassionate and distinctivelyChristian response to the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children in London.Motivated by their faith, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and his associates sought toprovide shelter, education and a loving environment for the city's mostvulnerable children.
The orphanage was founded on the 'family principle' which was viewed positively in 1878 by the Government report authored by Mouat and Bowly:
” – The Stockwell Orphanage, founded by the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, is an institution of a higher order than the reformatories and pauper schools, and is not an industrial school properly so called. It is devoted to the education and training of fatherless boys, and is supported entirely by voluntary contributions in money or kind. The feature which caused us to visit it with reference to the present inquiry is that it is based on the family system, there being eight separate houses, in each of which resides a group of about thirty boys under the special charge of a matron. Each house contains dormitories for the boys, and apartments for the matron, also a lavatory, and the usual offices; but the meals are taken in a general dining hall, and cooked in a general kitchen; an arrangement which doubtless conduces to economy, but which is to some extent departure from the ideal family system. “The boys’ houses are arranged in a continuous terrace, each house being separated from the next by a party wall as in an ordinary street, the schoolrooms are on a third floor over a portion of the terrace, and are commodious and airy. The standard of education is high, as one of the avowed purposes of the institution is to get the boys ‘to take good positions in the world.’ There is a general play-hall and swimming bath, and it was stated to us that nearly every boy was able to swim. “The standard of health is high; there is no general contagious disease in the school, and infectious fevers, when they occur, are easily prevented from spreading by early isolation, in the convenient detached infirmary standing at the southeast end of the playground. “The institution has been ten years at work, and the boys placed out in situations during that time have, as a rule, turned out well. “In many respects, this excellent school affords no ground of comparison with pauper institutions; but the point to be specially noted is that the family system, even in the modified form here adopted, is stated to have been productive of undoubtedly good effects, not only as regards the formation of individual character, but also as conducting to a high standard of bodily health.[6] ”
The original orphanage, in Stockwell, opened in 1869 forfatherless boys until ten years later when girls were welcomed to theorphanage. At this point there were 500 children living there.
In 1892 Charles Spurgeon died, however his work continued toimprove the lives of the children in the orphanage.
In 1939, when the Second World War was announced, thechildren living in the Stockwell orphanage had to be evacuated. The majority ofthe children were moved to St David's in Reigate, Surrey.
After the war the children briefly stayed at St David's asthey were unable to return to Stockwell Orphanage due to the bomb damage.
In 1951 the home in Birchington, Kent was opened and becamethe new children's home for Spurgeons. By 1953 all of the children had been relocated to the new home.
The children's home remained opened until 1979 when thechildren were sent to smaller homes or foster families.
From 1991 Spurgeons carried out international work inRomania, Kenya, Nigeria and Moldova. This international work was passed ontoother organisations in 2011.[7]
Spurgeons runs over 50 Children's Centres across the UK. Children's centres are a key resource in local communities.
The centres give Spurgeons the opportunity to work with children and families in the context of a local community and ensure they support all families regardless of background or situation.
Working with children in the early years of their life is the most effective way to ensure that those experiencing deprivation can still look forward to choices and opportunities.Focusing on communities with high-levels of poverty, Spurgeons work with families at the pre-natal stage, through birth and up to the age of five.[8]
Their services include:
Family circumstances mean that from an early age somechildren and young people provide regular or ongoing care and support toanother family member as a result of them having a physical or mental illness,a disability, or are struggling with substance misuse. Young carers often takeon practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally beexpected of an adult.
Spurgeons know that these children and young people needhelp to overcome the challenges they face. They work in partnership with otheragencies to support young carers and young adult carers (18-25), individuallyand within their families in a range of ways.[9]
Their services include:
Many children, overwhelmed by their problems, act-up or actout in a bid for attention or a cry for help. Children seen as 'trouble-makers'may become isolated or be excluded from mainstream schooling. When this happensthe risk of them becoming involved in criminal activity grows. They face thechallenges of drugs, bullying, abuse, poverty and family breakdown alone - sometimesbecause their own parents are in prison.
The impact a parent's imprisonment has on their children isnot fully known. But Spurgeons believes that it is crucial to help children toaddress the root-causes of their problems, support children and their familieswhile they have a family member in prison and ensure they break the cycle ofimprisonment within families.
In partnership with the police, schools, social workers andYouth Offending teams, Spurgeons supports families at times of crisis and provideone-to-one mentoring and befriending for children.
Spurgeons run child focused visitors centres in a number ofprisons. These include:
The visitors centres ensure children have the most safe andcomfortable experience when they visit a parent in prison.
Spurgeons also offers targeted programmes for youngoffenders or those at risk of offending – including mentoring for young peoplein custody, through the gate, and family based intervention to preventoffending and reoffending.[10]
Spurgeonsalso provide a project called ‘Invisible Walls’. Spurgeons’ Invisible Wallsfamily support service is based at HMP/YOI Winchester, a local Category B/Cprison. The service works in partnership with the prison and a range ofagencies to support fathers in custody and their families in a range of ways.
1. Support for visiting...
A key part of the service is the Visitors’ Centre, which acts as a hub for family support, and offers comprehensive access to information about local services within families’ communities. The 7-day-a-week service is supported by a large volunteer workforce who are trained and understand the needs that children and families visiting prison may experience.2. Support for fathers inside...
Within the prison, Invisible Walls offers a range of parenting support to fathers, including parenting programmes and Family Days, to assist them develop and maintain healthy relationships with their families wherever possible, both during custody and on release into the community. Invisible Walls acts as a bridging service to help meet the resettlement needs of fathers and their families on release as part of a multi-agency response.3. Work with agencies outside...
Invisible Walls works in partnership with Local Authorities’ family support services and social care, to deliver tailored packages of pre- and post-release support for the whole family. The service is a key provider of Hidden Sentence training to partner agencies and organisations across Hampshire and the surrounding area, helping them to understand the impact of having a family member in prison. Invisible Walls also has well-established links with local universities and community organisations through which the service recruits and trains a large cohort of volunteers to help support prisoners’ families.[11]
Spurgeons is an experienced provider of services for families withmultiple needs. They deliver a range of programmes to achieve positive changefor families and clear outcomes for commissioners.
Spurgeons provide cost effective high quality planned programmes in orderto meet the needs of troubled families. They provide planned programmes to meetthe complex needs of troubled families including key issues such as substancemisuse, mental health and offending. Their programmes provide holistic support,co-ordinating multi-agency work around the family unit.
They recognisethat one of the most effective ways to reach vulnerable young people is byworking with them in their own community. By establishing dialogue withchildren and young people most at risk of deprivation, Spurgeons can betterunderstand them and better help their community to find solutions to thechallenges they face.
The aim isto facilitate them in doing this through training, support andskills-enhancement.
Theseactivities are designed to help people to deal with issues likeinter-generational breakdown and anti-social behaviour and can help to buildstronger families and healthier and more cohesive communities.
Spurgeonsprovides activities such as parenting support, youth and children's activities,community events and homework clubs.
They alsooffer child contact services. Contact centres are meeting places where childrenfrom separated families can enjoy contact with one (or both) parents and/orother family members in a comfortable and safe environment. Visits are tailoredaround the needs of each child. It is estimated that 2,000 children in the UKuse Child Contact Centres each week.
Independentvisitors services is another service Spurgeons provides through family support.Children and young people being looked after by the local authority can benefitfrom the friendship and advice offered by a Spurgeons volunteer. All volunteersare fully trained to mentor and befriend a looked after child or young person.[12]