Join us
Join us
Making a difference in the lives of children and families sits at the heart of what we believe and what we do. That is why Spurgeons exists - to give children and young people, particularly those that are vulnerable, a better life today and a more hope-filled future
FAQ for colleagues and volunteers
In the beginning…
Spurgeons Orphanage and Homes, now Spurgeons family charity, was set up and run by Christians. Our founder, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the most famous Baptist pastor of his day, preaching to weekly congregations of 6,000. He and others began this work with children in 1867 thanks to a substantial donation from Anne Hillyard, an Anglican (Church of England).
Do you have to be a Christian to work for Spurgeons?
No, we actively encourage applications from a broad range of backgrounds, experience and beliefs. There is an ‘Occupational Requirement’ (legal HR term) for the leadership and governance of our charity ‒ trustees, CEO and directors ‒ to be Christians, as well as for several other roles working mostly with churches and faith organisations.
But we do expect all our colleagues and volunteers to sign up to our values, which are drawn from our Christian faith: Compassionate – Fair – Committed
Our values and behaviours
Our values motivate and challenge us and should run through our charity from top to bottom. We want them to be clear from our behaviour, underpin our culture, decisions and ‘the way we are’. During the last year, the whole organisation has been involved in agreeing how to put the values into practice through six behaviours*, which give us a focus for how we work – with children, young people, families and colleagues; and in our external relationships with other organisations and agencies. *Please ask if you haven’t already received a copy of Our three values and our six behaviours
If you work for Spurgeons, do you have to pray?
No you don’t but prayers are welcome! Prayer is an important part of any faith-based charity and we want to create opportunities to connect colleagues to reflect or pray about our work.
So how is Spurgeons 'Christian'?
Our Christian faith is not necessarily ‘out there’ when you first get to know us – we’re not about converting people. We’re about putting our faith into practice through our values. We think that to bring compassion and hope into every situation, to show kindness, patience and respect to individuals, is the most important thing we can do for the children and families we work with.
Our faith has remained at the heart of Spurgeons as we have grown and developed over more than 150 years. For all of that time, churches have supported us with donations and with prayer. We work alongside and in partnership with churches and faith communities, so that our combined experience and resources can benefit more children and families. It’s an important part of our work and identity, which we are looking to grow and develop further.
In all our services, we work with others – of no faith or other faiths – who share our values and our desire to put children and young people first.