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Ep 43. Mark Russell, CEO The Children’s Society: Fighting for Hope and Happiness
148 Plays1 year ago
“You change the world, when you change the lives of children… It is better for society to build stronger children, than fix broken adults.”
The Children’s Society believes that every young person deserves a good childhood.
Reflecting on the current context for young people in the UK today, is Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society.
Mark tells us how he and his colleagues are stepping up the fight for hope and happiness for young people, at a time when its under threat like never before.
We explore the ramifications of the UK government’s Illegal Migration Bill and why British children have the lowest well-being rates in Europe.
The goal of The Children’s Society is that by 2030, the damaging decline in children’s well-being has been overturned, setting a path for long lasting growth and prosperity. Mark sets out what he believes needs to happen for us to get there.
Its a conversation full of passion, raw anger and hope. Enjoy.
Recorded May 2023.
Guest Biography
Mark Russell was appointed Chief Executive of The Children’s Society in 2019 and leads a team of 750 staff and 10,000 volunteers. He is passionately committed to social justice and fighting for children and young people. Before joining The Children’s Society, Mark served as Chief Executive of Church Army for 13 years.
Mark grew up in Northern Ireland and read Law at Queen’s University Belfast. He has 10 years’ experience as a youth worker, supporting young people in England and Northern Ireland. In 1999, Mark was awarded the ‘British Gas Tomorrow’s People Award’ for his cross-community work, bringing Catholic and Protestant young people together across Northern Ireland in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement.
Mark has been a Trustee of The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England and has served as Chair of The Marylebone Project, the largest women only homeless project in the UK. He is a Governor of a large high school in Hampshire, an Honorary Canon of Southwark Cathedral and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
Mark lives outside London with his partner David and in his spare time he loves to travel, keep fit and a good red wine. If he were ever on Mastermind, his specialist subject would be the West Wing!
Links
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/ Twitter: @markrusselluk
The Children’s Society believes that every young person deserves a good childhood.
Reflecting on the current context for young people in the UK today, is Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society.
Mark tells us how he and his colleagues are stepping up the fight for hope and happiness for young people, at a time when its under threat like never before.
We explore the ramifications of the UK government’s Illegal Migration Bill and why British children have the lowest well-being rates in Europe.
The goal of The Children’s Society is that by 2030, the damaging decline in children’s well-being has been overturned, setting a path for long lasting growth and prosperity. Mark sets out what he believes needs to happen for us to get there.
Its a conversation full of passion, raw anger and hope. Enjoy.
Recorded May 2023.
Guest Biography
Mark Russell was appointed Chief Executive of The Children’s Society in 2019 and leads a team of 750 staff and 10,000 volunteers. He is passionately committed to social justice and fighting for children and young people. Before joining The Children’s Society, Mark served as Chief Executive of Church Army for 13 years.
Mark grew up in Northern Ireland and read Law at Queen’s University Belfast. He has 10 years’ experience as a youth worker, supporting young people in England and Northern Ireland. In 1999, Mark was awarded the ‘British Gas Tomorrow’s People Award’ for his cross-community work, bringing Catholic and Protestant young people together across Northern Ireland in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement.
Mark has been a Trustee of The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England and has served as Chair of The Marylebone Project, the largest women only homeless project in the UK. He is a Governor of a large high school in Hampshire, an Honorary Canon of Southwark Cathedral and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
Mark lives outside London with his partner David and in his spare time he loves to travel, keep fit and a good red wine. If he were ever on Mastermind, his specialist subject would be the West Wing!
Links
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/ Twitter: @markrusselluk
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Transcript
Edward Rudolph's Vision and Influence
00:00:00
Speaker
Steve Jobs once said, some of the world's greatest vision is born in the greatest anger. And Rudolph was determined to make society fairer for children. So we started with that one man with a commitment to create an organization to be there for the most vulnerable children in the country.
00:00:15
Speaker
140 years later, we still hold on to that same anger. Life is too hard for too many kids in this country. I often think to myself, what might happen if Edward Rudolph wandered into one of our offices or one of our shops or one of our 75 services with children? What do you think? I think part of them would think, heaven's above blimey, didn't I do well? Something I've started has become this extraordinary organization with hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers. But part of me thinks he might be more angry today than he was near anyone.
Charity CEO Podcast Season Launch
00:00:49
Speaker
Welcome to an exciting new season of the Charity CEO podcast, where we bring you the stories and insights of remarkable charity leaders who are changing the world for the better. We talk to the people who run nonprofits, the movers and shakers, who are driving positive change in this space, inspiring you to take bold action and make a difference.
00:01:08
Speaker
To all our listeners across the globe, I am thrilled to have you with us. We've received amazing feedback from listeners in over 42 countries, including the UK, US, Australia, Canada and India. Your support and engagement is what makes this community so special. To all of you who pour your hearts and souls into making the world a better place through your work in the charity and non-profit sectors, thank you. I'm Divya O'Connor and here's the show.
Children's Society Mission for 2030
00:01:37
Speaker
The Children's Society believes that every young person deserves a good childhood. Reflecting on the current context for young people in the UK today is Mark Russell, CEO of the Children's Society. Mark tells us how he and his colleagues are stepping up to fight for hope and happiness for young people at a time when it's under threat like never before. We explore the ramifications of the UK government's illegal migration bill and why British children have the lowest wellbeing rates in Europe.
00:02:04
Speaker
The goal of the Children's Society is that by 2030, the damaging decline in children's wellbeing has been overturned, setting a path for long-lasting growth and prosperity. Mark sets out what he believes needs to happen for us to get there. It's a conversation full of passion, raw anger and hope. Enjoy.
00:02:22
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Society. Society is an executive search firm that partners with responsible businesses and purpose-driven organizations to strengthen diversity and inclusion across senior leadership and board appointments. As a certified B Corp, they believe that all organizations can have a positive social impact and that careers should have purpose and meaning. Society's goal is to change the world for the better, one appointment at a time.
00:02:50
Speaker
visit their website, society-search.com, for further details.
Mark Russell: Personal Insights
00:02:55
Speaker
Now, on with the show. Hi, Mark, and welcome to season five of the Charity CEO podcast. I've been wanting to have you on the show for a little while now, so I'm so pleased that we get to speak today. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Well, Mark, you know the format, so let's get started with the icebreaker questions. Okay. Question one, what was your first job?
00:03:19
Speaker
My first job was as a weeder of potatoes and turnips in a field in a farm in Northern Ireland. And I was paid the princely sum of £1 an hour. Brilliant. Question two. What hobby or activity do you turn to when you want to disconnect from work? And I don't think it's going to be peeling potatoes, is it, Mark? Absolutely not. I'm a bit of a gym fan, so I go to the gym and I take my frustration out on a treadmill. Very sensible. Question three. What is your professional superpower?
00:03:50
Speaker
my professional superpower, that would be my ability to make people laugh sometimes. Beautiful superpower. Question four, share with us a favourite book or an author you favour and why? That's so hard because I spend so much money and so much time reading books, but the book I go back to if I want to be inspired is The Power of Why by Simon Sannak.
00:04:16
Speaker
just continually to remind me about what I'm meant to do, help everyone remember their why. And our final icebreaker, if you had the opportunity to interview anyone in the world dead or alive, who would it be and what one question would you like to ask them? Blimey, what a question. I would want to interview Ellen Pankhurst from the Suffragette movement,
00:04:39
Speaker
And I would like to ask her, how is she so incredibly brave fighting for justice for the rights of women with such opposition?
Founding of the Children's Society
00:04:48
Speaker
Indeed. And continuing the good fight in your own day job, I know, Mark, you are the CEO of the Children's Society, an organization that is over 140 years old. Tell us the origin story of the Children's Society and what it was set up to do.
00:05:03
Speaker
Of course, I'm extraordinarily proud to do this job. I'm only the 12th person in 140 years to be the leader of this organization. We were started by a remarkable young man in his late twenties called Edward Rudolph, who was a Sunday school teacher in Vauxhall in South London. And one particular week, two wee boys in his Sunday school class didn't show up and he was worried about them and he went to find them and he found them sitting on a street corner begging. Turned out their mum sent them out to beg because their father had just died and there was no money in the house.
00:05:29
Speaker
And something inside of him snapped. And he was filled with rage that children were begging in his city. And he stormed down the road to Lambeth Palace and banged on the door and demanded to see the Archbishop of Canterbury. And he said to the Archbishop, there are children begging on the streets of this country. What on earth are you doing about it? The Archbishop's response was, what are you doing about it? And that was the moment we were born. Edward Rudolph, as Steve Jobs once said, some of the world's greatest vision is born in the greatest anger. And Rudolph was determined to make society fairer for children. So we started with that one man.
00:05:59
Speaker
with a commitment to create an organization to be there for the most vulnerable children in the country. And 140 years later, we still hold on to that same anger. Life is too hard for too many kids in this country. I often think to myself, what might happen if Edward Rudolph wandered into one of our offices or one of our shops or one of our 75 services with children? What do you think? I think part of them would think heaven's above blimey, didn't I do well? Something I've started has become this extraordinary organization with hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers. But part of me thinks he might be more angry today.
00:06:28
Speaker
than he was in 1981. I think if you'd asked him to paint a picture of Britain in 2023, he might have thought we might have fixed some of this stuff. But children are still living in poverty more than ever, actually. Children are still struggling with their mental health. Children are still being groomed and exploited and neglected. In fact, children are facing stuff now that everyone in his imagination could never even have imagined, like online harm, for example. So our job as an organization is never to forget where we started. We started with one person angry, fighting for justice.
00:06:58
Speaker
And we are still today a bunch of angry people fighting for justice. And channeling a bit more of Edward Rudolph then, Mark, tell us more about the current context for children in this country. Your Good Childhood Report published in 2022 reported that one in eight children are unhappy with school and that one in nine have low wellbeing. What's going on? Yes, you're absolutely right. And we've been tracking children's wellbeing for over 15 years at the Children's Society. And we know that year after year after year,
00:07:28
Speaker
we're discovering children are more unhappy in this country. Now, it is important to say that our Good Childhood Report shows about 85% of children in this country are happy, which is good. The problem is the number of children who are deeply unhappy has doubled over the last decade and is now the highest it's ever been. In fact, Good Childhood Report 2020 reported we had the most unhappy children in all of Europe. And when we asked the question why that was, it was because children in Britain are more scared of failure. Our education system presses down on children. It doesn't work for all children.
00:07:58
Speaker
children look at the price of a house and think, how on earth am I going to afford somewhere to live? And also we have the highest levels of child poverty. We've got 4.3 million children in this country in poverty and children who are living in poverty, whose parents are anxious about putting food on the table,
00:08:12
Speaker
those children are not going to be happy, content, hopeful, and resilient. And so that's the context for what we're seeing. We know we've got a mental health crisis amongst children and young people. We've got the highest waiting lists. Government has cut 2 billion pounds out of early intervention help for young people over the last decade. We have a challenge facing us in this country that life is too hard for too many children, and we must do something about that. And that's driving the children society's mission. So our mission for this decade is quite clear and quite simple.
00:08:42
Speaker
By 2030, we want to overturn this decline in children's wellbeing. So children in Britain are happier, more hopeful, more confident and more resilient. And every pound the children's society spends, every decision we take is focused toward that big goal. We want happier children by 2030. And are the current trends worsening? Or where are we, do you think, on that turning back upwards trajectory?
00:09:06
Speaker
things are worsening. The number of children in poverty is rising. And the fact the 4.3 million figure that we're using from the government's own statistics, those numbers were calculated before the full extent of the cost of living crisis was truly understood. And whilst there was a £20 uplift on universal credit, which has now been taken away. So without question, those numbers are higher than 4.3 million. We also know that the long tail of the pandemic is impacting children's mental health.
00:09:33
Speaker
We know there are children in parts of this country waiting up to 18 months to two years for help from the moment they are referred by their GP to camps. We know there are more children who are facing exploitation and grooming by criminal groups. And we know more children are at risk of harm online. And that's before we even open the can of worms around asylum and the number of young people who've gone missing from
Archbishop's Critique of Government Policy
00:09:56
Speaker
the immigration system in this country. So there is a huge challenge in front of us.
00:10:00
Speaker
But I am determined that the Children's Society and our partners across the sector are going to work tirelessly to hold the government to account and to fight for a fairer, better future for the kids of this country.
00:10:11
Speaker
And turning the conversation to the illegal migration bill that is currently being read in the House of Lords, just last week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who I know is your president, was really scathing in his criticism of this draft legislation in his speech to the Lords and he described it as isolationist, morally unacceptable and politically impractical.
00:10:33
Speaker
And you made reference there to the 200 children who are missing from Asylum Hotels and it seems like nothing is being done. What is your view on this? Well, I have made my views on the number of children missing from the Home Office Hotels very clear to the government at the highest level. I think it's unacceptable. I think it's wrong.
00:10:52
Speaker
And we warned the government this would happen. We warned the government when they started putting children in hotels without the appropriate safeguarding arrangements around them. We warned them this was storing up a problem. And so it has proven to be. And I am deeply concerned for those 200 children. Every one of them is a scared, frightened individual who's come to this country for a better future. And we've let them down. So I'm deeply concerned for every one of those children. But I'm also deeply concerned about this bill that's going through parliament, the illegal migration bill. And I'm concerned for a number of different levels.
00:11:22
Speaker
On one level, I'm concerned because it strips away children's rights to claim asylum unless they come from a specific small number of safe routes. And that, I think, flies in the face of our history as a country over hundreds of years of welcoming the stranger at the heart of the Archbishop of Canterbury speech, of welcoming people struggling and fleeing oppression and violence and seeking a better life. But I'm also concerned because we have a piece of legislation in this country called the Children Act in 1989, which is the undergirding of the entire children's social care system.
00:11:52
Speaker
and that places upon local authorities' duties to care for children in their area. And what this bill does is it picks out of that children who are refugees and it subjects them to a different safeguarding and child protection system. And what that will do is create a two-tier child protection system in this country, which I don't think is the right thing to do. And the third thing I'm worried about is it plans to detain children pending age assessments. And we know from our research that we've been doing
00:12:19
Speaker
that last year, 850 young people were wrongly identified as adults. And that meant they were placed into adult systems rather than children's systems, which caused safeguarding risks as well. We think this piece of legislation will harm children, and we're doing all we can to challenge parliamentarians to amend it, to increase protections for vulnerable children and young people. And what do you think, Mark, would actually make the Home Office care about this issue? I mean, how can we change this narrative? What do you think needs to shift?
00:12:48
Speaker
That's a really difficult question and one I ask myself all of the time. Our role is to present evidence. Our role is to present what we're seeing in children's lives and young people's lives. I guess, talking about the Archbishop of Canterbury, if you go to Canterbury Cathedral, in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, there's a small Huguenot chapel, which was created for French people to worship, having fled the revolution in France.
00:13:12
Speaker
right in the centre of his cathedral is this little chapel which reminds us of Britain's proud history of hospitality to the refugee. I want us to rediscover that. I want us to rediscover what it means to be a generous, welcoming country, not to be frightened of people. One of the things that I've seen throughout my career
00:13:30
Speaker
In my last job, we worked with homeless people, and I've seen there, and we're seeing here with refugees. Somehow or other, we think some human beings are less human than the rest of us, that they don't have the same struggles and hopes and aspirations that we do. They don't feel the same as we do. I saw how we treated homeless people, and I'm seeing it again here in how we're looking at refugees.
00:13:54
Speaker
If you have fled from some horrendous war zone or a place where you're at risk of your life, what kind of fear must you have to put yourself into what can generously be described as a dinghy to cross the English Channel amongst some of the busiest shipping routes in the world? How desperate must you be to do that? And if you look at those boats, those boats do not contain Ukrainians,
00:14:20
Speaker
or Afghani people. Why? Because we have a safe route for refugees in those countries. And the government have promised us safe routes for other nationalities, but they've not delivered on it. And we need safe routes. By creating safe routes, that's how you put these people who are trafficking human beings out of business. You create safe routes for people to come to this country legally and have their asylum claim assessed properly. And that's what we need the government to do.
00:14:44
Speaker
Mark, you are clearly a really ardent campaigner and advocate for children's rights and social justice, and absolutely rightly so. It is a really tragic situation. From your experience, are there any lessons that you've learned or advice that you could give to other charity sector folks with respect to influencing policymakers and parliamentarians? The first thing to say is what we campaign for must be earthed in evidence. It's got to be earthed in evidence. And that's why I love the Children's Society, because we
00:15:12
Speaker
do our campaigning and we do our advocacy and our lobbying and our fighting for change, earth in our practice. We are working with 50,000 young people across the country and it's their voices, their stories, their experience that fires us with the evidence to do the campaigning for change. So first thing is it's got to be earth and evidence. Secondly, it's very easy to stand outside and shout and yell. And I know we have challenges about some of the attitudes of government.
00:15:38
Speaker
But my experience over many years in this space is that most politicians, not all, most, most politicians are decent people who genuinely want to make a difference and are open to being persuaded. I met a member of parliament just the other week and I sat down and I explained to him some of the things we were fighting for. I showed him the evidence and the good challenge report and he went,
00:15:59
Speaker
That makes complete sense what you're saying. Earthing and evidence, I think assuming the best in people that actually, that's why I mean not standing outside and yelling all the time, assuming the best and thirdly ensuring that the voices of those whom you're fighting for, the lived experience of those
Political Change and Leadership Ideals
00:16:14
Speaker
whom you're fighting for, is at the heart of all that you're doing. That's why youth voice matters so much to the children's society. Our campaigns are all earthed in young people's voices. Those would be the three, I suppose I would say. Now I'll put a fourth one in. The fourth one is never lose hope.
00:16:28
Speaker
change happens. I had the privilege of knowing the late great Desmond Tutu and he once said the arc of the future tilts towards justice and I've always believed that politics can affect change.
00:16:42
Speaker
God knows, growing up in Northern Ireland, you learned that. And I was part of the generation that led to the Good Friday Agreement. So we saw the political impossibility happen. Peace broke out in Northern Ireland. Politics delivered change. And I believe in all my heart, politics can deliver change. And we must... Do you know my favorite TV program is the West Wing? Tell us more. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a line in the West Wing when President Bartlett says to Toby, his director of communications, he said, Toby, the job you've got is to speak to the better angels in my mind.
00:17:10
Speaker
and to make sure they're not drowned out by the demons. I suppose my job as a campaigner is to speak to the better angels and the amount of our politicians and to fight for change on that basis.
00:17:20
Speaker
I love how you just articulated that, Mark. I also really love the line that you use at the Children's Society, which is, we fight for the hope and happiness of young people. And I think you're absolutely right in terms of having that youth voice really centered and earthing in evidence and practice everything that you are campaigning for. In this context and given what the research and your evidence is showing you, what would your advice be to young people right now? Oh, so much I can say about young people. One is, first of all,
00:17:50
Speaker
I said this to an audience of children in a school a while ago. Inside you is a unique blend of gifts and skills and talents that no other person on the face of the earth has. So believe in yourself, believe in the contribution you can make to this world. Secondly, I would say, use your voice. You'll never hear me say giving young people voice. They've got one. We just have to listen to it. So use your voice and speak up and speak out. Get involved. Be part of movements and campaigns for change.
00:18:19
Speaker
And I also say to young people that I'm sorry that our generation to have let this generation down. We are not leaving them a good inheritance in terms of either our economy or the planet or the quality of public discourse, frankly. So I would say to young people, get involved, use your voice and fight for change. But above all, believe in yourself. And thirdly, nobody else is qualified to be you. So be yourself. Be comfortable in your own skin. Love who you want to love.
00:18:48
Speaker
and don't let anybody tell you you can't. I'm always fascinated to understand people's histories and backgrounds, and you talked there a little bit about, obviously, growing up in Northern Ireland, but tell us more about your personal leadership journey. What has brought you to where you are today? That is a cracking question. I should say, and I say this at every Welcome to the Children's Society session that I lead for new staff,
00:19:12
Speaker
The Children's Society wasn't just the next job on my CV. It wasn't just I saw an advert in the paper and thought, oh, I like the look of that. I have been a card-carrying Children's Society supporter, campaigner, and donor for the best part of 20 years. And I've waited patiently for this job to arrive. And then all I had to do was persuade the trustees to give it to me. And thankfully, they did. So it's kind of felt this has been the job I've been waiting for my whole life. But to take you back a little bit, I grew up in Northern Ireland in the middle of what was known as the Troubles, a time of huge uncertainty and
00:19:40
Speaker
So I often say to kids when I'm talking to them about my background, they'll say, what difference was your childhood to mine? I say, well, I know what a £2,000 Semtex explosion sounds like going off on your road. I know what it's like to have friends house blown to smithereens before school. Those kinds of experiences. And so growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer. I'd watched far too much LA law as a kid growing up. I wanted to be rich and successful, and I wanted to have a big house and a car and make a lot of money. And so I worked very hard at school.
00:20:07
Speaker
And I got myself to law school at Queen's University Belfast, well on my journey to my rich, successful legal career, when I had a moment that changed my entire life. I was in a birthday party in Belfast when one of my classmates was killed by a terrorist gunman. And it forced me into a position of saying, what the hell are you going to do with your life, Mark? And I worked out at 20 years of age, what I still hold onto as true as almost 50 years of age, which is you change the world.
00:20:36
Speaker
when you change the lives of children. When you transform children's lives, you change the world. And so I jacked in the law, much to my mother's disdain, who was looking forward to her son having a villa in Spain or something, and I became a youth worker. And I often say to our practitioners in the children's study, it's the most important job in the world. And I've done it. I became a youth worker and I persuaded the Methodist church in Northern Ireland to hire me as a peace and reconciliation youth worker in Northern Ireland.
00:21:01
Speaker
And my job for a number of years was working with some young people in the community where I lived, but also bringing Protestant and Catholic children together. So my background and my backstory is you can put me in a sharpsuit and call me a CEO. I'm a relational youth worker at heart and have been all my life. And went from there to being a youth worker in England, worked for the Church of England for a number of years, just north of London. And then to my surprise, I was given the job as a chief executive of a Christian charity called Church Army when I was 30 years old and did that for about 12 years before coming here to the Children's Society.
00:21:31
Speaker
So to be honest, I mean, that was an extraordinary thing. You're jumping from being a youth worker with two staff and a budget of 15 grand to being a chief exec of a eight million pound organization with 240 staff. It was quite the jump, but I cut my teeth at 30 as a chief exec and I found myself here in this extraordinary organization, working with the most brilliant people fighting for change for young people. Indeed. And looking back on your time as a leader, is there any advice that you would give to yourself on day one of becoming a CEO?
00:22:01
Speaker
It's pretty much like the advice I give to young people is to be yourself. I read something the other week that, on average, there are two books on leadership published somewhere in the world every week. This torrent of leadership advice that's landing on us from all directions is enough to terrify even the most confident of leaders. The good news is most of it's rubbish. Most of it's written by people saying, if only you were like me, you'd be a brilliant leader. You read a book by some famous business person or some great politician and they'll say, just be like me and you'll be great.
00:22:30
Speaker
That's not right. The best leaders are truly authentic to themselves. They're paid up members of the human race and they lead from within their own skin. And so that's what I would say is to be confident enough to lead as yourself. And the second thing I would say is that leaders are not meant to be macho and all-knowing and all-powerful and having all the answers all of the time. It's to be vulnerable and to tell the truth and to admit when you don't know the answer, to admit when you screw up and mess up and to learn from it.
00:23:00
Speaker
So it's about being authentic to yourself, being a pet member of the human race, being highly compassionate and caring for the people that you serve alongside. I came for my interview for this job at Children's Society. I remember saying to the board, one of the most important things I do is I send lots of cards to people saying, well done for something you've done really well, or my heart goes out to you if you've just lost somebody you love. And one of the
00:23:21
Speaker
around me say, well, we're a much bigger organization, you couldn't do that here. I said, I think I probably can. I've held true to that for the last four years of sending cards weekly to people for saying, well done for doing this, or I'm really sorry, your partner's so sick, or whatever it is, being compassionate, being caring. And those are the ways that people connect. People don't join organizations, they join people, and they want to be part of a movement with people. And leadership ultimately is about creating a culture
00:23:47
Speaker
where people can bring themselves to work and know that they're valued for who they are, not just what they do.
00:23:52
Speaker
I love that. Be a paid up member of the human race and be compassionate and caring. And we all know Mark as leaders in the charity sector that we wouldn't be able to do our work without compassionate and caring volunteers. And as we are approaching National Volunteers Week coming up in the next month, tell us a bit more about the role that volunteers play at the Children's Society. Our volunteers are extraordinary. We've got about nine and a half thousand volunteers at Children's Society who give about half a million volunteering hours every year.
00:24:22
Speaker
I'm actually speaking right now in the middle of writing 106 thank you cards to the volunteers in our 106 shops around the country. I've got a slightly sore right hand. I really wanted to do that to say to each of them how much I appreciate them. They make an extraordinary contribution. We couldn't run our network of shops without them. That helps us raise over £12 million a year for the work that we do.
00:24:45
Speaker
We have loads of other volunteers who work with young people directly, mentoring and coaching and supporting. We've got many others who raise money for us, everything from running a marathon to organizing dinners and fundraising events. We could not do what we do without volunteers. We had a town hall this morning, actually. We call our town hall TCS Live. And our archives department was sharing the story of volunteers over 142 years of the Children's Society. And they told the story of this remarkable woman
00:25:11
Speaker
who started as a volunteer knitting jumpers for children's in children's homes that we used to run back then. And then over the years, her volunteering journey has changed and she started running a fundraising committee raising money for us. And we've got people like that all over this organization. Yesterday, I signed two certificates to two volunteers, each of whom have given 50 years of service as volunteers. And I signed two more for two people who've given 30 years of service. So like 160 years of service on four bits of paper.
00:25:40
Speaker
our volunteers are extraordinary. And if we paid them at the living wage, probably we'd put about five million pounds on our wages bill. Wow. That's an incredible number to contemplate, especially when you said at the beginning of our conversation that the government have taken two billion out of earlier's intervention in funding from the last decade. And it really goes to show the role that the charities and all of the great folk who support the sector really play in today's society.
00:26:06
Speaker
Absolutely right.
Charities and Collective Impact
00:26:07
Speaker
As well as that, we are funded by over 100,000 people who donate to us as well. I am extraordinarily grateful to the generosity of so many people either to give their time or their money or their voice to join us on this journey for change.
00:26:22
Speaker
At my heart, I passionately believe that people inherently are good and they want to make a difference in this world. And the job of charity is to help show people how they can make a difference, how they can make the world a better place. And so we continually tell our supporters,
00:26:37
Speaker
We dare to believe that every child in this country, regardless of their mum or dad's income or their postcode, deserves the best start in life and to be free from harm and to live in a decent house and to have enough food on their table and heat in the radiator. And that's the world we want to create. And if you want to join us on that journey, be a part of it. And people do. I spend a lot of my time either contacting donors or sending them letters or cards. Our supporter care team know there's never anything I won't do to say thank you to people for their generosity because
00:27:06
Speaker
They're the people who enable us to do what we do. I read an article the other week of somebody saying that their chief executive had told them that they didn't want to be involved in signing a letter or anything for anybody who donated less than 10 grand. I thought, oh my goodness, me. That's dreadful. There isn't a single donor whether they're given a pound or who I'll not want to say thank you to because they have made a contribution to our work and I value it.
00:27:30
Speaker
Absolutely. And on that note of making a difference, tell us about some of the other campaigns that you and your colleagues are focused on at the moment. Thank you. Yes. Well, there's a number of different campaigns we're focused on at the moment. One we're working on is we're deeply committed to helping young people who struggle with their emotional and mental health get help earlier.
00:27:50
Speaker
We know that children are waiting far too long. We know that children are turning up on A&E with mental health issues. We know that over 80% of all government spending on mental health for children is on crisis interventions. So we are fighting really hard to persuade the government to shift that expenditure to early intervention and prevention.
00:28:07
Speaker
We're part of a coalition of charities across the children's sector fighting for government to invest in local open access hubs to enable young people to get the support that they need early before issues become a crisis. We're also working hard around a campaign to ensure that young asylum seeking children get a guardian in the system. And that campaign is led by young people themselves, young asylum seeking young people. We've just won a campaign a year or so ago to change the law and school uniform. We fought that and we won it and we
00:28:36
Speaker
got the law signed into being by the late Queen, which has reduced the price of school uniform for every child in England by about a third. We were part of the coalition that led to the change in benefits to be upgraded in line with inflation. We fought a campaign to have 500 million pounds of resource for families facing crisis. We fought a campaign and we want to ensure that
00:28:56
Speaker
care leavers got higher levels of housing benefit. The list goes on and on. We're going to tell you so much more. Basically, we listen to the stories of young people. We listen to their voices. We hear where there are challenges and where they've been let down. And then we try and fight for systemic change to avoid that happening in other children's lives.
00:29:13
Speaker
I know when we were chatting earlier, Mark, you said to me that essentially more resilient children equate to more resilient adults and therefore we are actually creating a more resilient society. And therefore there is real, both social and economic benefit in terms of longer term for governments to be investing in those early childhood requirements and the foundations for children today.
00:29:35
Speaker
Absolutely, absolutely right. Gordon Brown once said that children are 20% of our present and 100% of our future. And frankly, in this country, we do not have a strategy for good childhood. We don't know what it means for children to thrive in 21st century Britain. And if we build a society that works for every child, where children get the support that they need, where they're living in decent houses, where they're not anxious about their mental health or living in poverty, then we will build stronger children who will, as you say, become stronger adults.
00:30:04
Speaker
It was a 17th century American philosopher called Frederick Douglass who said once, it is better for society to build stronger children than fix broken adults. He was absolutely right. We need a strategy that invests in early intervention and prevention, a strategy that focuses on good childhood, and a strategy that wants to build children's happiness. That's why our good childhood report matters because
00:30:25
Speaker
You can look at objective indicators around children like housing quality or income in families, but wellbeing is a subjective indicator. It's how a child feels about their life and how a child feels about their life matters. And what our research is showing is that more and more children are unhappy and that is storing up huge problems for our future as a country. We should be investing in children and investing in their futures and it will be to the betterment of the whole of society.
00:30:55
Speaker
Mark, you said earlier that British children have some of the lowest wellbeing levels in Europe. From your experience and knowledge, which countries in Europe are actually getting this right, i.e. where are the children happiest? I mean, I know Scandinavia is often quoted, but what are they doing that is getting this right and what can we perhaps model from them?
00:31:17
Speaker
They've got a better education system than we do. They're not testing children every 30 minutes. And they've got lower levels of inequality. So the gap between the richest and the poorest is smaller. And that's critical to this as well. And they have got a better mental health system as well. So there's much we can learn. But the thing is, there's much we can do. Politics is about priority. Politics is about making choices. And children have been left behind for too long by a number of administrations.
00:31:46
Speaker
One of the things we've been calling for is actually a cabinet minister for children. Because if you look at the government, the education sector recovers schools and children's social care.
00:31:55
Speaker
Children's experience of policing sits with the Home Office. Children's experience with the justice system sits within the Ministry of Justice. Children's experience with health is within the Department of Health and Social Care. We need one strategy that joins all that together and focuses all the different bits of government to help children thrive. So we've been calling for a cabinet minister for children. That's a call also echoed by our other friends in Barnardo's Action for Children, NSPCC National Children's Bureau.
00:32:21
Speaker
and also a call echoed by IXA, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. So we're pressing both the government and the opposition coming up to elections to do something about that and actually join the different bits of government up that we currently have to work better for children. And how does that sit against the current role and remit of the Children's Commissioner?
00:32:41
Speaker
The Children's Commissioner is independent of government and the Children's Commissioner's job is to be an advocate for children within the public square and also the Children's Commissioner has got statutory powers to ask questions of government and require answers. So the Children's Commissioner doesn't coordinate or lead public policy for children. The Children's Commissioner is the most powerful advocate we can have in the public square.
00:33:04
Speaker
Well, Mark, it is so fascinating talking with you. I mean, there are some really intractable problems here, but as you say, there are some clear solutions in terms of priorities that the government can do and put in place. One other thing I'll just say very quickly is the heart of this is I passionately believe in hope and that tomorrow can be better than yesterday.
00:33:23
Speaker
I said this at a conference recently, which you might remember, is that I read in The Guardian by Rebecca Solnit, who said that optimists and pessimists did the same thing in common. They both believe they don't have to do anything at all, that the optimist doesn't do anything because the world would get better and the pessimist doesn't because the world would get worse. Solnit argues the world is only ever changed by hope-filled people.
00:33:44
Speaker
who dare to believe that their voices, their actions, their behavior, their choices, their money, their behavior can affect real change. And I believe that the charity sector in this country, that the Children's Society will absolutely be hopeful people who dare to believe that yes, we're facing huge challenges, but we can fix this. We can turn it around. And I will absolutely use every breath in my being and every sinew of my being to fight for a fairer world for children. And until that happens, we've still got work to do.
00:34:12
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, Mark, I was going to ask you what is one thing you would like listeners to take away from this conversation. I think I'd like your listeners to be hopeful people, to dare to believe the world can be better and to get your sleeves rolled up and make it happen. Brilliant. Thank you, Mark. Thank you for your candor and your passion today. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show. It's been my pleasure being with you. Thanks for inviting me.
00:34:36
Speaker
And that's a wrap on another inspiring episode of the Charity CEO podcast. I hope you found the conversation thought-provoking and uplifting. I certainly did. If you enjoyed the episode, we'd be thrilled if you could share the joy by leaving us a five-star review on your favourite podcast platform. Tag us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram. We'd love hearing from our listeners.
00:34:57
Speaker
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