About the Winch

The Winch is a Camden-based charity supporting children and young people, tackling issues of poverty, hardship and inequality since 1972.

With 43% of Camden’s children living in poverty—far above the London average— we work where poverty hits hardest.

Through deep, long-term relationships and programmatic interventions, we offer unique ‘cradle-to-community” support to children and young people.

Our mission

Our goal is to ensure that children, young people and their families thrive at every life stage despite their life circumstances. Rooted in shifting outcomes for children and young people, we don’t just ease symptoms—we confront the causes of injustice to help children and young people achieve their full potential. We work to ensure the ecosystems in which they live are designed to enable them to thrive.

Our programmes

Our programmes are delivered within the heart of Swiss Cottage, ensuring children and young people have access to support and resources within the familiar environments where they reside, study, and play, encompassing schools and community spaces. We support the physical and mental health needs of displaced under-5s in England’s Lane hostel with parents living in temporary accommodation. We offer free daily spaces in our After-School Club for children who are experiencing challenging life circumstances and/ or are living in households affected by substance misuse and/or domestic violence.

We work in partnership with local schools to provide mentoring to young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences and are at risk of being excluded from school, as well as resident-led community action to deliver fairer outcomes for the neighbourhood.

In 2024-2025, we ran over 1000 individual sessions, reducing the effects of exclusion and marginalisation and improving feelings of belonging, community and wellbeing.