About Family Action

Family Action provides support to some of the most vulnerable and poor families in Britain. 

Family Action provides financial support and care for children and families disadvantaged and excluded through poverty, ill health and abuse.

In Britain today one in three children are growing up in poverty.  There are children in this country who go without food and clothing because their families simply cannot afford the basic necessities to keep them warm and nourished.

These children are likely to suffer the ill effects throughout their lives.  Poor achievement in school, poor physical and mental health, unemployment and crime are all more likely outcomes for children who grow up in poverty.

Family Action helps over 30,000 children and families a year across the country to deal with the daily effects of living in poverty and offers services to help them break out of its vicious circle.

Last year Family Action’s grants department gave out over 5,000 small grants to struggling families to help them with necessities such as beds, cookers and children’s shoes.

Family Action also offers small grants to enable disadvantaged adults to retrain into jobs with greater employment prospects.  As little as £100 can make attendance at a training course possible, increasing someone’s chances of becoming a wage earner and providing a way out of the poverty trap.

It is not only financial support that Family Action provides.  The charity’s community services are based in some of the most deprived areas in the country where the pressures on families are immense. 

Here Family Actionprovides practical and emotional support to families, especially those who face additional difficulties such as domestic violence, mental health problems or caring for a child with a disability. 

It works within the community, whether it is at a local doctor’s surgery, family centre or in the family’s home. 

Our history

Family Action started life as the Charity Organisation Society (COS) in 1969.

It was founded by Octavia Hill and its early supporters included William Gladstone, Lord Lichfield and John Ruskin.

COS set out to co-ordinate charitable giving to maximise its effectiveness and enable people to help themselves out of poverty. It wasn’t long before direct services were added to provide emotional and practical support.

Throughout its history the charity has developed innovative services to meet the changing needs of some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Amongst the many services it introduced were England’s first employment exchange in 1870 and the First Citizens Advice Bureau in 1938. 

The society was renamed the Family Welfare Association in 1946 (now Family Action) and continues to find ways to alleviate need.