This year, Coram achieved a key milestone in its history by increasing impact in national policy, media coverage and research recognition whilst expanding reach of delivery to children and families.
In the last year, we have reached more children and families than ever before by maintaining and developing our direct delivery services across our seven strategic goals. This includes expanding our work on bullying and conflict navigation, and additional professional services in early years and childcare.
None of this work would be possible without the dedication and expertise of our staff, trustees and volunteers and the support of so many individuals, local partners, trusts and foundations, and we thank them all.
“I believe everyone ought, in duty, to do any good they can.”
Thomas Coram
230,058
children and carers supported directly
739,041
benefitting in schools from our curriculum resources
1.8 million
users of our digital resources
A fair chance
Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) is the leading source of free legal information, advice and representation on community care, education, immigration and family law to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children, young people, families, carers and professionals every year.
500,000
online visitors to Coram's Child Law Advice Service
13,000
personalised advice sessions provided
12,000
clients supported by Coram's Child Law Advice Service
A loving home
All children and young people need a loving home. Coram supports families
through online, helpline and in-person services, delivering outstanding adoption services, and providing unique services to match approved families with children waiting and to support them through their journey.
Coram Adoption, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, welcomes prospective adopters across Greater London and many surrounding areas and hosts the Coram Ambitious for Adoption regional adoption agency to deliver adoption services on behalf of nine local authorities.
Over the last 12 months, we have found new loving homes for 47 children waiting in the UK. Coram IAC is also an outstanding VAA and this year worked with 133 local authorities across the UK and placed 39 children – 26 intercountry and 13 from the UK.
Coram IAC welcomed a visit from the Philippines Children Services and accompanied the DfE on a visit to India, to enhance our working arrangements to be able to place some of the world’s most vulnerable children who would otherwise grow up in orphanages in loving homes in the UK.
47
children have now found a new loving home through Coram Adoption
39
children have now found a new loving home through Coram Intercountry Adoption
3,448
adoptive families supported
A voice that's heard
Coram works to ensure that the voices, views and experiences of children and young people are heard in the decisions that matter, in their own lives, in policy and in practice, supporting care-experienced children and young people directly and addressing systemic issues of homelessness, disability and school exclusion.
9,000
young people worked with at Coram Voice
3,500
young people supported via advocacy in local areas at Coram Voice
300
independent visitors supported young people in and leaving care
A chance to shine
Coram works to ensure that children can build their confidence, aspiration,
identity and social equity by participating in creative programmes, making personal discoveries and expanding their horizons.
8,000
pupils performing on stage in the Coram Shakespeare Schools theatre festival
3,500
participants in standalone workshops
500
children attended our Tomorrow’s
Achievers workshops with the Criterion Theatre
When Milly joined Belle Vue Primary School in Carlisle, Cumbria, she was struggling with her speech and could not make herself understood – by year three Milly had an EHCP and had begun speech therapy. After auditioning alongside 110 children, Milly was cast as Snug the Joiner in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and her teachers began to see a new side to her. Milly found an enormous sense of fun and community in rehearsals and was determined to make her character her own by experimenting with physical comedy.
Skills for the future
Coram’s Centre for Life Education works with 3,000 schools nationwide every
year, enabling some 600,000 children to gain the skills they need for the future through a love of reading, tackling bullying, building critical thinking and confidence in making friends, and in conflict navigation.
600,000
children reached through life education work
3,000
schools nationwide every year
1,888
young people benefitted from Coram Leap programmes
No matter where
CoramBAAF is the leading professional membership organisation for local authorities and agencies working across adoption, fostering and kinship care providing professionals with the advice, training and development they need to provide high quality children’s services no matter where they are.
Throughout the year we worked with government, local authorities, social workers, parents and carers to advance equality of access and best practice in early years and childcare no matter where children and families live.
A society that cares
The Coram Institute for Children is the first recognised Independent Research Organisation dedicated to children and young people to be recognised by UKRI.
This research status across our UK and international research impact and evaluation teams means that we are now eligible to bid directly for research grant funding from the seven research councils of the United Kingdom and further grow our research capacity to build new research insight.
Thank you for your support
This year thousands of people have been inspired to help children directly as reading volunteers, independent visitors and helpline advisers and 1,000 young people helped 18,000 others through their support as young ambassadors, co-trainers, and peer researchers.
We have received over 15,000 gifts from our community of support from a wide range of donors to whom we are very grateful including sponsors of those who have cycled to Cannes, run the London marathon and climbed Kilimanjaro. We have been proud to join in partnership with many private and public sector organisations and in particular to be the charity partner to law firm Macfarlanes.