Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children and young people. As of 2010, it spends over £190 million each year on more than 400 local services aimed at helping these same groups. Barnardo's is based in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge in east London.
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The charity's founder Thomas Barnardo opened a school in the East End of London to care for and educate children of the area left orphaned and destitute by the recent cholera outbreak. A little street child, called Jim Jarvis, attended one of his classes after hearing of it from another child and asked for help. The little boy eventually led him to a hiding place of hundreds of boys on a rooftop in Whitechapel as their only other alternative was to go to a workhouse. In 1870 he founded a boys' orphanage at 18 Stepney Causeway and later opened a girls' home. By the time of his death in 1905, Barnardo's institutions cared for over 8,500 children in 96 locations. His work was carried on by his many supporters under the name Dr Barnardo's Homes.[1] Following societal changes in the mid 20th century, the charity changed its focus from the direct care of children to fostering and adoption, renaming itself Dr Barnardo's. Following the closure of its last traditional orphanage in 1989 it took the still simpler name of Barnardo's. The official mascot of Barnardo is a bear called Barney. H.M. Queen Elizabeth II is the current patron of Barnardo's. Its Chief Executive is Anne Marie Carrie.[2]
There was controversy early on with Barnardo's work. Specifically he was accused of kidnapping children without parents' permission and of falsifying photographs of children to make the distinction between the period before they were rescued by Barnardo's and afterwards seem more dramatic. He openly confessed to the former of these charges, describing it as 'philanthropic abduction' and basing his defence on the idea that the ends justified the means. Indeed he was taken to court on 88 occasions largely on the charge of kidnapping. However, being a charismatic speaker and popular figure he rode through these scandals unscathed. Other charges brought against him included presenting staged images of children for Barnardo's 'before and after' cards and neglecting basic hygiene for the children under his care. These latter remained unproven. A common accusation that he was 'Jack the Ripper', first made by McCormack (1970), which has widely entered recent urban mythology, is widely regarded as spurious [3].[4]
Today Barnardo's provides a comprehensive range of local support, counselling, fostering, adoption and training services for more than 100,000 children, young people and their families. The charity works to transform the lives of vulnerable children and young people, and aims to enable them to fulfil their potential. In recent years Barnardo's has accompanied its service delivery work with some robust campaigning on child poverty, Sarah's Law, asylum-seeking children, children in care, young carers and, most recently, youth justice. In terms of charitable expenditure, Barnardo's is now the UK's biggest children's charity.
Barnardo's raises money for its work with children and young people through its chain of high-street and local retail shops. As well as regular second hand stores across the UK, Barnardo's also has a network of shops dedicated to selling vintage clothing, books, shoes and furniture, as well as boutiques, bridal wear shops and dress agencies, not to mention GIK (gifts in kind) stores which sell new clothing and goods that have been donated to Barnardo's from manufacturers and retailers. Barnardo's also have an online shop on their main website which details new goods such as gifts and greeting cards.
Barnardo's have their own song, which was sung by children from Dedham C of E Primary School at the Royal Albert Hall to raise money for the charity. Some Barnardo's shops play pre-recorded programmes of "Barnardo's Radio" featuring a mix of easy listening music interspersed with short appeal campaign appeals.
The charity's current tagline is "Believe in children".[5]
Barnardo's has courted controversy with its advertising program, which in 2003 featured a new-born baby with a cockroach crawling out of its mouth.[6] The advert was subsequently banned by the ASA.[7] In 2008 its 'Break the cycle' TV advert featuring a girl being repeatedly hit around the head by her father[8] prompted a number of complaints but was cleared by the ASA who said the imagery was justified given the context.[9]
Further controversies have dogged Barnardo's in recent years. In 2009 Martin Narey then Chief Executive of Barnardos stated that he believed that more children should be taken into care. This statement caused considerable controversy especially as historical references were made by journalists to Barnardo's original practice of 'philanthropic abduction'. Narey has consistently claimed that his comments were misunderstood and taken out of context, indeed that Barnardo's primary work is in supporting families.[10][11]
During the 1950s, children from the homes made some significant recordings. Their biggest claim to fame was featuring on Petula Clark's 1952 recording of "Where Did My Snowman Go?". They also made some other recordings as a vocal group for Polygon & Pye Nixa.