Barnardos Annual Report and Financial Statements 2019

I have always believed that what happens to us as children shapes the adults we become. During 2019, it was my privilege to take up the role of chairperson of Barnardos upon the retirement of David Begg in July 2019. It was a year of growth and development in Barnardos where we worked with more children and families than ever before and embarked on a new strategic plan for the period 2019-2021. This plan is driven by our aspiration to be a leading force in helping vulnerable children overcome adverse experiences, have happier childhoods, and achieve better outcomes for them and their families. We do this by championing the field of trauma informed work with vulnerable children and families. We see real evidence of how this approach can make a substantial positive difference to children and families every day. However, it has not been a year without challenges both for us and for the children and families we work with. 2019 was a year where we saw a record number of children experiencing homelessness and hidden homelessness, the continued growth in the number of children waiting for child psychology, psychiatry and speech services, a lack of proper family support services, and a failure by the Government to lift enough children out of poverty. Through our work, we heard stories every day from parents of children whose lives are affected and whose children’s health and wellbeing are suffering because of insufficient investment in services and supports. We work tirelessly to change this. Early in 2019, we had to take a number of cost reduction measures to meet the financial challenges caused by the underfunding by statutory agencies for services provided under contract on their behalf over the past decade. Despite calls to statutory funders and the Government, this remains an ongoing issue and a threat to service provision. We would not be able to continue without the ongoing and generous support of the wider public who have responded to our calls for help to fund the vital work we do. Being involved in the work that Barnardos does has fuelled my passionate commitment to helping the wider public understand that as many as one fifth of the children in Ireland struggle with the impacts of childhood adversity and that without Barnardos many Irish children would suffer and their parents would not get the help that they need. We want to continue to reach more children and families who have been affected by adverse childhood experiences and everyone in our organisation is ambitious to ensure we achieve this. We are grateful to all our current donors and partners and hope the Irish public will continue to support Barnardos in ensuring Irish children and families get the help they really need.

Collections

Annual Reports