Barnardo's

Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children and young people. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same groups. It is the UK's largest children's charity, in terms of charitable expenditure. Its headquarters are in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge.

Origins

The charity was founded by Thomas Barnardo, who 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, see A History of Barnardos. 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 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. 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's is a bear called Barney. H.M. Queen Elizabeth II is the current patron of Barnardo's. Its current Chief Executive is Javed Khan.