NSPCC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a UK charity working in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children.
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[edit] Activities
- Community-based teams and projects throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Free, 24-hour Child Protection Helpline
- Operating the ChildLine service throughout the UK, including Scotland
- Public education campaigns,
- Parliamentary campaigns.
- Child protection training and advice for organisations involved in the care, protection and education of children.
- Research into the nature and effects of child abuse.
- Information resources on child protection and related topics for professionals, the press and the general public.
- Fundraising through individual and corporate supporters,
- Involvement of celebrities, including Kylie Minogue, Jonny Wilkinson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and others in support of the charity's causes.
[edit] Campaigning and controversy
The NSPCC's campaigning role has often led it into controversial areas. It has recently received complaints for "cold" mailing young mothers with a "babies' names" booklet containing instead a detailed list of the deaths of babies [1]. The charity also supports mandatory sex education for all children, and has argued against the view that marriage is necessarily the only way to create stable relationships [2]. In 2000 the NSPCC supported the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 which lowered the age of consent for same sex relationships to 16, in line with that for heterosexuals [3].
In recent years, the charity has faced criticism for its stance on contact visits to children following parents' separation. The NSPCC has consistently opposed an automatic right of contact for both parents, arguing that this is not necessarily in the best interests of the child. This stance has led to criticism both in parliament [4] and by the fathers' rights group Fathers4Justice. Indeed, in 2004 the London headquarters of NSPCC were briefly invaded and occupied by Fathers4Justice supporters.
The NSPCC also faced criticism for failing (along with other organisations) to do enough to help Victoria Climbié and prevent her death, and also for misleading the inquiry into her death.[5]
[edit] History
The NSPCC was founded in 1884 as the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (London SPCC) by Benjamin Waugh.
After five years of campaigning by the London SPCC, Parliament passed the first ever UK legislation to protect children from abuse and neglect in 1889.
The London SPCC was renamed the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1889, to reflect the fact that by then it had branches across Britain and Ireland.
The NSPCC was granted its Royal Charter in 1895, when Queen Victoria became its first Royal Patron. It did not change its title to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, as the name NSPCC was already well established, and also to avoid confusion with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which had already been in existence for more than fifty years.
Today, the NSPCC works in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Children 1st - formerly the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children - is the NSPCC's equivalent in Scotland. The NSPCC's organisation in the Republic of Ireland was taken up by the newly-founded Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) in March 1954.
In February 2006, the charity ChildLine joined together with the NSPCC.
The NSPCC's administrative headquarters are in Shoreditch, London. It provides employment to 2500 people [6], and has a budget for 2006-2007 of £138 million. Of this £138 million, the NSPCC plans to spend £60 million (43%) on services for children and young people. It also aims in 2006/2007 explicitly to "ensure every NSPCC service is able to demonstrate clearly how the service is contributing to keeping children safe" [7].
Since 2002, the Chairman of the NSPCC has been Sir Christopher Kelly KCB, formerly a senior Civil Servant.
[edit] Values
The NSPCC's current core values are based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
They are:
- Children must be protected from all forms of violence and exploitation
- Everyone has a responsibility to support the care and protection of children
- We listen to children and young people, respect their views and respond to them directly
- Children should be encouraged and enabled to fulfil their potential
- We challenge inequalities for children and young people
- Every child must have someone to turn to
