Annual Report 2024

15,250 children, young people and their families in Birmingham were helped by Spurgeons in 2023-24 through targeted activities, advice and support.

Birmingham Forward Steps (BFS), began in 2018 and is a partnership between Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Community Health Care Trust, and four charities: St. Pauls, Springfield, Spurgeons, and Barnardos. Spurgeons provides support for children up to five years old and their families with services including baby groups and breastfeeding. We also work with community and faith groups to provide specialised advice on debt, housing, and immigration. As Family Hubs, some children’s centres now support children up to 19 years old (up to 25 years for those with SEND). 

Find out more about our work in Birmingham.

96% of families would recommend our service to friends and family.

86% of families make progress working with us (Family Star Plus Outcomes)

100% of children and families make progress working with us (My Star Outcomes).

Our family centres in Elmbridge support families with children up to the age of 11 and work alongside the youth provision and local authority family support teams. Domestic abuse, parental mental health and children’s mental health remain the highest reported concerns. In 2023-24 we worked with 252 families and 505 children as well as supporting 193 families in the community. 

Learn more about our work in Elmbridge.

88% of families make progress when working with us in 2023-24 (Family Star Plus Outcomes).

2,388 adults and 2,376 children seen in 2023-24.

The Family Hub Wiltshire council provides parental and family support services for children and young people aged 0-19 (extending to 25 with SEND). Offering a range of parenting support groups and parenting classes in Wiltshire, the Family Hub offers support services to help with all aspects of parenting as well as support and advice for young people both face-to-face and online. 

Learn more about our work in Wiltshire.

During 2023/24, our Spurgeons counsellors offered 13,830 sessions to 1,172clients. 87% of those seen reported moderate or high wellbeing after sessions.  

All our counsellors are fully qualified and members of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). We see children face to face in schools, in our own offices, in churches and children’s centres and, in response to lockdown, we also started seeing teenage clients by Zoom. These children are referred to us by schools, GPs, child and adolescent mental health services, Early Help teams and parents.

Learn more about Spurgeons counselling services. 

9,980 children and family members affected by imprisonment have been supported through our visits provision and one-to-one casework. 

We have developed an award-winning Family Hub at HMP Winchester designed to help families reconnect in a positive way. By offering support and interventions for fathers in prison, our Invisible Walls initiative aims to reduce reoffending and improve outcomes for the whole family. 

Learn more about Invisible Walls. 

12 dads and 27 children supported in 2023/24.

Behind the Walls, Beyond the Gates is a Spurgeons project which offers intensive preand post-release support to fathers and families. The support aims to reduce re-offending and intergenerational offending and is offered through various interventions including multi-agency 
family resettlement, self-study and workshops

Learn more about our Beyond the Walls, Beyond the Gates project. 

107 boys seen in 2023/24.

The Boys 2 Men programme sets out to enable boys and young men in prison explore the idea of masculinity and male development. The content and activities encourage young men to become reflective thinkers and to develop an understanding of the role they play to themselves, their families and wider society. Our goal is to empower young men to see beyond their current circumstances and take active steps for a better tomorrow.

Learn more about the Boys 2 Men programme. 

100% of parents would recommend Spurgeons to family and friends.

We operate three preschools in East Grinstead, Maidstone, and Ramsgate which prioritise children with special educational needs, English as an additional language, and who qualify for Early Years 
Pupil Premium.

A recent Ofsted report of our schools said: “Staff have high expectations for all children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have an inclusive culture, where they are skilled at adapting activities so all children can join in.”

Learn more about our preschool provision. 

77% improvement in parent confidence. 

We support families with a wide range of requirements from people who need to access universal services to those higher up the ‘Spectrum of Need’ who would benefit from targeted support from multi-disciplinary teams. 

We offer courses for parents of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and domestic abuse. We also provide informal support through drop-in sessions in local primary schools and at parent toddler groups

Learn more about Parent Support.

326 children, 195 adults and 558 families seen in 2023/24.

Our work with churches has been part of our charity’s Christian identity for more than 150 years. Together for Families (TfF) activity is always connected to church, faith or community groups who serve and care about children and families in their local area. This activity is part of part of Spurgeons children’s and family centre teams and thanks to these important local relationships we are able to reach out to more children and families.

Learn more about Together with Families.