CYP Now - Children England’s demise highlights failing ‘market’

Following the collapse in 2016 of children’s charity 4Children, Kathy Evans, chief executive of Children England warned that “the serious financial fragility of the children’s services ‘marketplace’ is a very real and urgent problem for large and small organisations alike”.

Derren Hayes: “In its absence, will children’s charities, large or small, feel bold enough to challenge the growing and rampant marketisation of children’s services?”

Fast forward seven years and the “serious financial fragility” Evans highlighted has now played a part in the demise of Children England, the children’s charity infrastructure body established in 1942 and whose members are both large and small voluntary sector organisations (VSO).

Evans said “financial challenges” compounded by the inflation crisis of the past year had forced the organisation’s leaders to act now (see Analysis).

The closure, and that of the Small Charities Coalition earlier this year, highlights both the challenge that charity infrastructure bodies face to stay relevant in an era when so much emphasis is placed on delivering services, and the dysfunctional state of the children’s services marketplace currently.

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