our history
Our organisation has a remarkable heritage. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of one woman, Anne Hillyard, we were founded in 1867 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, to care for fatherless boys. The first girls were accepted into Spurgeons' Homes in 1879. The original orphanage, in Stockwell, was our home for most of our first century, until a move to Reigate and then Birchington, Kent. Since 1979, when the last orphanage closed, our work moved into offering care for children through ‘foster’ style homes based in Bromley, Luton, Bedford and Coventry.The early 1980s brought the beginnings of partnerships with Local Authorities to take our service delivery further. During this time we also opened the first Day Care Centres in Bedford, Coventry and Wolverhampton extending our work with young people and lone-parent families.