Hello, welcome
Thank you so much for your interest in joining KidsOut.
As someone famous once said, ‘Children are the future’. But for many children, the future is less bright and more than just a little uncertain. Children represent a group of very important people that a great many charities care deeply about and look to help. And one of the fundamental entitlements that EVERY child should have is a sense of fun and happiness. It should be a natural part of growing up – it comes with the territory of being a child. And we all know that happier children make for happier, well-rounded adults. But many children don’t have the same experience as perhaps we did when we were growing up. For them, the world is very different.
“I had never been bowling before and I was really good at it and knocked down more than Mum. I had fun”
Child in refuge
One of the things that makes the plight of disadvantaged children so heartrending is that it isn’t their fault. They didn’t choose to have an abusive parent that meant they had to flee their home, friends, school, and leave any semblance of normality behind, ending up in a women’s refuge at the other end of the country with nothing but the clothes on their back. Nor did they choose to have a mental or physical disability. Or to be born in poverty, never even knowing what something as familiar to us as going to the cinema is like.
KidsOut is a unique organisation, because it focuses on delivering happiness, an experience that every person craves. And very often, we help children at a time when their world is quite literally torn apart. For us, the measurement of success is smiles, happy memories, and hope. You won’t believe some of the sad and cruel circumstances that the children we help find themselves in. But for them to know that someone cares – and can help them create memories that will last a lifetime – can make all the difference. And that hope is crucial. Children knowing that there is happiness out there, is priceless.
And because happiness is transitory, we increasingly work with other charity partners who help to deliver longer term solutions. Whether that relates to mental or long-term health, or disability issues, our focus is not solely on the short term. We want the children we help to reach a place where they can be happy in the long-term. We want to follow their journey and help make them happy adults.
It’s a very interesting time to be joining KidsOut. We’re about to agree a new strategy taking us to 2030, and our new Chair will help us set, embed, and deliver our priorities. The economic context is challenging, and like most charities our margins are tight. But you will help the Board provide leverage their creativity and experience to make us resilient for the future. This is an amazing opportunity to help reshape a nationwide children’s charity for the next decade and take the breadth and scope of what KidsOut is able to deliver to a whole new level.
I look forward to discussing this unique role further with you.
Sara Williams
Chief Executive
“This opportunity opened doors to Victims of Domestic abuse who never had an experience of a cinema. I see the changes in their faces and a burst of energy”
Refuge worker
“I can’t thank you enough for the toys, I was so upset as my children didn’t have anything and now they do I am happy”