Without Barnardo's I wouldn't be here.
I wouldn't be alive. They have helped me so much. They asked if I wanted help with housing. I said yes and it's the best thing I have ever done.

Taking action

Barnardo’s works with some of the most vulnerable children in the UK and witnesses every day the impact of living in grinding poverty on them and their families.

Poverty is the single greatest threat to the well-being of children and families. Growing up in poverty can affect every area of a child’s development – social, educational and personal.  As adults they are more likely to suffer ill-health, be unemployed or homeless. Living in a poor family can reduce children’s expectations of their own lives and lead to a cycle where poverty is repeated from generation to generation.

We believe it is outrageous that children in the fifth richest country in the world still have to suffer the consequences of poverty.

We welcome the government’s commitment to tackling poverty, and the recent £1 billion announced in the Budget; but we are concerned that the current strategy will not reach all those in greatest need. Barnardo's, as a member of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, are lobbying the government to invest £3billion by 2010 and to keep their promise to the hundreds of thousands of children living in destitution and deprivation in the UK today.

What is Barnardo’s doing? Find out about how Barnardo’s helps children and their families who live in poverty and our lobbying priorities.

What you can do: Ways to support our services and get involved in our campaigning work.