According to the Charity Commission, a charity is an organisation set up to
benefit the public through one of 13 charitable purposes: -
• The prevention or relief of poverty
• The advancement of education
• The advancement of religion
• The advancement of health or the saving of lives
• The advancement of citizenship or community development
• The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
• The advancement of amateur sport
• The advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation,
or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and
diversity
• The advancement of environmental protection or improvement
• The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill health,
disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
• The advancement of animal welfare
• The promotion of the efficiency of the armed forces, or of the
efficiency of the police, fire and rescue services or ambulance services
• Any other purposes accepted as charitable on the day that this part of
the Act comes into force, and any purpose that is analogous to or
within the spirit of any existing charitable purposes, any of the
purposes listed in the Act or any purposes accepted as charitable after
the new law comes into force.
The final purpose allows flexibility for the law to evolve over time in response
to changes in society. A charity must also be set up for the ‘public benefit’.
The charity was formed to protect children from abuse and mistreatment.
This was due to the lack of legislation in place to protect children.
It was originally founded in 1884 by Benjamin Waugh as the London society for the prevention of cruelty to children.
The aims of the project were to bring in legislation for the protection of children.
It saw in the first law protecting children from abuse and neglect brought in by parliament in 1889.
It has expanded to include Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
It also encouraged children 1st the Scottish equivalent to the nspcc.
It is also the only British charity to be given statutory powers under the children act 1989.
It has been a huge success lasting over 125 years with a staff of just 2,500 and over 17,000 volunteers.
The most significant milestones in the charities history have got to be the initial law brought into place in 1889.
Then again in 1895 when her majesty queen Victoria became the charities royal patron and it was given its royal charter.
The charity has and continues to make huge difference to the lives of thousands of children across the country but there are still children at risk.