It takes people from every background to bring out the best in children

Our history

This is an old photo showing NCH founder Thomas Stephenson talking to three children.

In 1869 a young Methodist minister, Thomas Stephenson, was moved by the plight of children living on the streets of London, and came up with the idea of a home for young boys, where they would be safe from poverty and crime.

Together with two Methodist friends, Stephenson renovated a disused stable and the first two boys were admitted to the Children's Home on 9 July 1869. By 1908 the organisation had grown into the National Children's Home and Orphanage.

The name reflected Stephenson's farsighted commitment to family-style childcare. At a time when most children who could not stay with their families lived in big institutions, Stephenson's small homes were pioneering.

Stephenson's recognition of the importance of professional training was a significant contribution to the development of childcare in the UK. 'It is a huge mistake to suppose that anybody who can wash a child's face or sew a button upon a child's dress is fit for work such as ours,' said Stephenson, and NCH's training of young women to become 'Sisters' began.

The National Children's Home campaigned for the legal recognition of adoption, becoming an adoption agency in 1926. Later, it influenced the 1948 Children Act, which paved the way for adoption to become the leading childcare strategy. In the mid-1960s, we took another pioneering step, helping children with disabilities or histories of abuse, previously considered impossible to place because of their special needs.

The social changes of the post-war years prompted a shift towards preventative action, supporting vulnerable parents through the family aid scheme, day nurseries and family centres. When these centres first opened they were an innovation, but today they dominate our work.

Today, NCH works with more children and young people than any other UK charity. Reflecting this evolution away from children's homes, we are now known simply as NCH. Although we are no longer a Methodist charity, we remain the children's charity of the Methodist Church.