Charity Film Awards
Charity Film Awards

Action for Children

We're driven by love to take action for children.

Our vision is that every child and young person has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.

We put children at the heart of everything we do. That includes our mission and values. They’re our blueprint for the way we work.

Our mission

We take action to change the childhoods of those who need help to thrive. Giving vulnerable children and young people the protection and practical help they urgently need and tirelessly campaigning for lasting change.

Our values

  • We’re passionate about all children having a safe and happy childhood.
  • We’re ambitious for children and young people.
  • We collaborate internally and externally with other organisations to get the best outcomes for children.
  • We're inclusive, and strive to ensure that all children are included.

Our areas of work

We take action in three ways.

Intervention. Anyone can get trapped in poverty, abuse or violence. When we spot problems, we take action early. We step in to help children, young people and families before things get worse.

Prevention. We give young people the support they need to grow up safe and happy. Projects like The Blues Programme teach important life skills and help to build resilience. It’s simple and it works.

Advocacy. Children don’t have a say in many things that affect their lives. We listen to what they want. We take their concerns to the government. And we campaign for better support and resources.

We want to rewrite the future of vulnerable children across the UK.

A lot has changed since we began in 1869, but our ambition – to give children safe and happy childhoods – shines just as bright.

We’ve applied all our of experience and expertise to develop our ambitious strategy to help more vulnerable children, young people and their families.

More safe and happy childhoods

The strategy focuses on developing our services in four core areas: family support, children in care, disabled children, and mental health and wellbeing.

Our seven goals will help us become stronger and more sustainable, so we can ensure more children are safe and happy.

Our strategic goals

1. Grow our services to help more children and young people

2. Increase the impact of our work with children and young people

3. Influence policy decisions to improve the lives of children and young people

4. Attract, develop and retain brilliant staff and volunteers

5. Inspire greater support for our vision and mission

6. Increase our financial contribution from fundraising, nurseries and childcare

7. Deliver best value for children and young people by improving efficiency


Our ambition is big. But we believe in the passion and ability of everybody in the Action for Children family to give more vulnerable children a safe and happy childhood.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Entry in Charity Film Awards 2026

Entries in previous Charity Film Awards

News articles featuring Action for Children