How the Children's Society coped with COVID-19

‍The Children’s Society is one of the UK’s most high-profile charities, with a reputation for delivering great services and campaigning work. The arrival of the pandemic this spring left it facing similar organisational challenges to others in the sector - how to continue service delivery in the new era and meet rising demand - at the same time as the enforced closure of its shops put the charity under what TCS director of national operations Nerys Anthony calls “huge financial pressure”.

In service delivery to vulnerable people in any sector, trust is always key. “The majority of our work pre-lockdown was face to face,” says Anthony. “The ability to build and maintain a relationship with young people through trust was essential to the success of our work. With COVID and lockdown we could not do this as effectively.”

Lockdown without doubt led to a spike in demand as the number of young people vulnerable at home rose. “For many, home is not a safe place,” she says. “Lockdown meant they were trapped with their abuser. Or gangs they lived in fear of were able to reach them 24/7. For others, their school - the only source of structure, safety or hot food - was shut. For others still, digital poverty, lack of connection to the wider community was an issue. Home is not always where the heart is.”

Tech response

Technology has been deployed across the charity’s operations to help it adapt. Within days of lockdown in March, Microsoft Surface Pros and smartphones were configured and sent to staff home addresses. Risk assessment - an absolutely key area - was opened up via phone, text and video call (gaining consent from parents/carers if under 16).

Meanwhile, “rapid due diligence” ensured all recommended charity software was safe, legal, ensured safeguarding and abided by relevant information governance requirements. Security considerations have meant Zoom, so popular elsewhere, cannot be used by The Children’s Society.

“This effort has involved cross-team collaboration, working at pace and in ways we’d never worked before,” says Anthony. The operational response added software training, a digital advice line and online resource hub.

The result, she says, has been positive in many ways: “more collaboration, less silo working, geography becoming irrelevant, more rapid decision making - and an acceleration of digital transformation.”

Digital tools and impact

To engage with young people, the charity has adopted Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams, and has deployed FaceTime and WhatsApp (though for over 16-year-olds only).

For team working, the charity uses the Microsoft Office suite “with greater collaboration happening than ever before,” explains Anthony. “Office was already embedded so we’ve just started using these in different ways rather than purchase new suites.” Different teams then use Miro and Slack for running workshops and communicating. The charity has secured 100 free Miro licences so expects the whiteboard software to really take off.

“We saw a huge acceleration in the use of Teams in the month after lockdown and ensured training for the whole organisation within a fortnight,” she adds. “That has meant we are connecting well as an organisation - and still supporting young people in ways that work for them.”