What would our founder Octavia Hill think of Family Action today?

On 29 April 1869, Family Action convened its first meeting in London, chaired by our founder Octavia Hill (who was also one of the founders of the National Trust). Could she and the other founding members have imagined that Family Action, then known as the Charity Organisation Society (COS) would still be going strong and thriving 155 years later?

Would they be surprised to see that we have grown from a charity serving families in a few London boroughs to a major national charity serving hundreds of thousands of children and families every year? Most significantly, could they have foreseen that there would still be a need for our help a century and a half later?

Much has changed at Family Action over the last century and a half. Our name has changed twice: from our origins as COS we became the Family Welfare Association (FWA) in 1946 and then Family Action in 2008. These are simply examples of moving with the times, however. Our core mission remains supporting people practically and financially through change, challenge and crisis, as we always have.