The Charity ‘4Youth’ has closed- as has ‘4Children’.

These two closures are not related but it shows the challenges for charities in two different ways.
4 Youth funds had declined: they were based in St Thomas Church, and after it was closed for charities, their work, although valuable, just seemed to fritter away. They have closed in an orderly fashion and enquirers referred to UK Youth: a national charity with a similar remit.I wish UK youth well in their additional endeavours.

4 Children is a different picture: they overstretched themselves with a number of massive county wide and government contracts right across the UK, taking on massive debts, including through David Cameron’s special lending scheme for big charities to expand rapidly to fill what were council services.
With huge borrowings the potential for disaster loomed as costs rose and contracts were closed off.

Their Children’s Centres in Hampshire were outstanding, but only one would have survived in the cuts:-in Eastleigh.
All others that are remaining are HCC or Action for Children (who are not universally rated ‘outstanding’ in Hampshire).

Transfer from 4Children to HCC or Action for Children has been orderly over the last few months, though I haven’t had the fate of the CC in Eastleigh confirmed yet. Only three of over 150 projects run by 4Children are in doubt at present.

4children was led by Anne Longfield as CEO until a couple of years ago (they were in deep debt by then…) when she left to become the Children’s Commissioner, standing up for children in Government!!

Four lessons learned:
1. Don’t overstretch yourself
2. Don’t take on work that you don’t usually do
3. Don’t undercut the local providers
4. Make sure you keep reserves to do what you can to make an orderly exit.

Ironically, Action for Children and 4 Children scored high on financial probity when tendering for Children’s Centre work to HCC and smaller local charities lost out on the score sheet because they didn’t have experience of bigger finance!
This is one lesson for children and adult services at our Conservative run County Council too- don’t underpay- because the organisation will collapse and leave you in the lurch.

(I hear from providers that with the low sums offered for client care, it is also happening in day care for adults with LD too)