Thank you for inviting me here today - I am delighted to be able to share with you something of the work of NCH, the children's charity of the Methodist Church; and our exciting plans for the future. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the support that you and the Methodist Church in Britain give us.

We celebrate on this Sunday the founding of NCH by a Methodist minister, Revd Thomas Bowman Stephenson. Together with Methodist friends, he opened the first Children's Home in Waterloo on the second Sunday in July 1869.  Its purpose was, 'to rescue homeless, abandoned and runaway children from extreme poverty and the dangers of living on the streets'.  Stephenson said, 'We do not wish to establish an institution - the name on which we have decided is the Children's Home'. 

At the time such action was 'ground breaking' and offered a radical caring alternative with small 'family' units, based on recognising every child as unique, precious and loved. Putting the needs and potential of children and young people at the centre of this work was an approach which was way ahead of its time. That child centred approach has remained fundamental to the values of NCH as our work has developed over the years.

As was mentioned when I was introduced, my name is Rebecca Crosby and I am the Internal Communications Manager at NCH and I've been working there for almost two years. Some of you may remember me as I was christened here by my grandfather the Rev. Geoffrey Crosby and then attended Sunday School and eventually became a Sunday School teacher. You may also know my parents, John and Joy who are foster carers. I knew that I would never be able to do what they do, or to follow in the footsteps of Grandpapa and become a minister, but working for NCH allows me to help improve the lives of children and young people and also to retain my links with the Methodist Church.

I work in the communications team at NCH and although I do not work directly with children and young people, I do feel that I am contributing behind the scenes. For example, we have all seen the media coverage about gun and knife crime recently. My team organised an event where young people who are directly affected by this issue could voice their opinions and have them heard. Some of our young people got to visit 10 Downing Street and had an audience with the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary.

So I'm really pleased that I can play a small part in enabling NCH to work with some of the most needy children, young people and families in the UK.  Because NCH wants to do that even better it has embarked on some very big changes and I've been asked to share something of these developments with you today.

You may have begun to hear about some of these changes - they are exciting, and to be honest, a little scary too. We want as many Methodists as possible to join NCH on this journey and to pray for our work.

So here is the rationale for change and some key changes we will be making:
Our Vision is of a world where all children and young people have a sense of belonging, and are loved and valued. A world where they can fulfil their potential, shape their destiny and experience the joy of life.

Our Purpose is to help the most vulnerable children and young people break through injustice, deprivation and inequality, so they can achieve their full potential.

Our Values are passion, equality and hope.
What do those values mean?

Passion - We are driven by our desire to help children and young people overcome injustice and disadvantage
Equality - We believe all children and young people have equal worth and equal rights
Hope - We believe in a child or young person's potential, no matter what they have experienced or what they have done.

Based on these values, and the pride we take in keeping the child at the centre of all we do, we have now stated a defining principle: 'always there for children'. This underpins all our work, whether directly with children or young people, campaigning on their behalf, or helping our services to be as effective and child-centred as possible.

British society has changed enormously since our foundation in 1869, and we have repeatedly faced fresh and diverse challenges and changes.  'Always there for children' doesn't mean that we will continue running the same projects in the same way in the same places for ever.

Rather,
Always - speaks of stability, our heritage and history of commitment to children and young people, and our ongoing commitment to not give up.
There - points to our involvement where children and young people are expressed through the wide variety of our work.
For Children - because children and young people are at the centre of what we do.

During the last eighteen months a team of people from across NCH has been working to produce a clearer and more powerful identity for the organisation. As a result we are in the process of changing our organisational structure in ways that affect most staff, so as to place the maximum resources at the front line of our work.

In September we will be changing our visual identity and name.  We are changing our name to - Action for Children.

'Action for Children' better communicates what we do, and reflects our organisational focus.  As our founder did in 1869 we are choosing a name that communicates the essence of our work in the twenty first century.

We believe that our new name and identity will enable us to:
► explain who we are and what we do in a simple and consistent way
► be a much stronger campaigning voice for the most vulnerable children and young people
► distinguish ourselves and the services we provide from other children's charities
► increase our voluntary income and thereby make innovative responses to fresh needs
► successfully deliver more children's services
► have more influence on public and political opinion
► recruit and retain more staff and volunteers

We very much want you to support this new chapter in our life. We currently work with around 180,000 children, young people and families in just under 450 projects. The loyal support that the Methodist community have consistently given over the years has brought us thus far.

We look to you to help support the new work and engage in the campaigns that we will undertake as 'Action for Children', so that the work started almost 140 years ago by a group of Methodists passionate about the needs of 'the child in their midst' can continue to reach vulnerable children and young people and put them at the centre of its work today.

Thank you for listening to me. I'll also be pleased to talk with you after worship, and we'll be pleased to respond to you by e mail too if you contact us at  methodist@nch.org.uk