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Annual Report 2023/24 Foreword

Update from Spurgeons CEO Ian Soars

At the heart of Spurgeons is the ability to meet the needs of families whoever they are; a self-harming teenager, a family torn apart by imprisonment, a mum suffering from domestic abuse or a child with suicidal ideation. Our aim is that nobody is turned away and that we never give up on a family that needs us.

In June 2023 we invited all our colleagues to come and share their expertise, experiences and insights as part of ‘Spurgeons Day’. This was an opportunity to come together and thank people across the organisation who support more than 30,000 families every year. As part of this event we took time to explain our 2023-25 strategic approach.

Central to our future approach is the delivery of Family Hubs in partnership with State and Church. A Spurgeons’ Family Hub is a place where children, young people and families can receive the love, expert care and support they need to flourish.

Ian Soars, Spurgeons CEO

As both local and central governments experience a reduced capacity to respond to the needs in our communities, we believe the church has a role to play in ensuring that every child has the chance to thrive. Spurgeons mission is to galvanise and equip the church to step into the gap left by the reduced ability of government.

On the whole, we do this through commissioned contracts and partnering with statutory partners and other charities to ensure children and families receive the most holistic care.

Many of the families that Spurgeons care for are seen in the context of our Local Authority Commissioned Children’s Centres, but increasingly so, we also support many families in the community, in churches, prisons, schools and GP practices.

A Spurgeons’ Family Hub is a place where children, young people and families can receive the love, expert care and support they need to flourish.

Ian Soars, CEO

In February 2023, we launched our Digital Family Hub Resources and Courses. This is an online resource where families can access immediate expert care when they need it. It offers parents, and the professionals who work with them, access to parenting tips and free, accessible online wellbeing resources. Our online presence is significant; it is fundamental to equipping churches and communities with the resources needed to care for families beyond our current physical presence and already benefits around two million families per year.

Last year our priorities were to re-win our contracts, consolidate the Family Hub strategy into our communications and growth plans and mobilise the contracts we have retained. I am delighted to confirm that we have succeeded in all these endeavours. 

Looking ahead we will crystalise our church-based Family Hub model to allow for further growth across the UK. We will continue to prioritise the nation’s children and have created a new advocacy role to ensure the voices of children and young people are heard loud and clear by both central and local government. In addition we are putting significant investment into new service delivery models in prisons, churches and online and we are restructuring our own organisation to maximise efficiencies to ensure a sustainable financial foundation for the future of Spurgeons.

No CEO operates in a vacuum and the development and implementation of our strategic approach relies on our talented Senior Leadership Team. We have expanded the team in the last year to recognise the broad reach of our services and the expertise required to deliver them. I am deeply grateful for the relentless endeavour of this talented team to ensure Spurgeons is equipped to reach every family that needs us.