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The entrance to the Coram Campus

The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London operating under the name Coram. It was founded by eighteenth-century philanthropist Captain Thomas Coram who campaigned to establish a charity that would care for the high numbers of abandoned babies in London, setting up the Foundling Hospital in 1739 at Lamb's Conduit Fields in Bloomsbury. By the 1950s social change had led to the closure of the hospital and the charity adopted the broader name Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in 1954.

The charity acts as an adoption agency in addition to a wide range of educational and advisory services for children. It retains part of its original site in London but moved its heritage collections into the care of The Foundling Museum in 1998.

History

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Main article: Foundling Hospital

The Foundling Hospital was established by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram, who was appalled to see abandoned babies and children starving and dying in the streets of London.[1] In 1742–1745 a building was erected north of Lamb's Conduit Street in Bloomsbury. Boys were housed in the West Wing of the new home. The East Wing was built in 1752 to house girls.

The artist William Hogarth was a governor of the Foundling Hospital and donated some of his work to the foundation as well as designing its coat of arms.[1] The art collection also contains works by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds, including a full-length portrait of Thomas Coram, along with musical scores by Handel including one of three fair copies of Messiah.[1]

In 1926, the Governors of the hospital decided to relocate it out of the city, initially to Redhill, Surrey and then to Berkhamsted[2] in 1935. It then closed as a children's home in the 1950s, the buildings becoming Ashlyns School, a local authority school not related to the charity.[3]

The Foundling Hospital was renamed the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in 1954.[4]

Activities and services

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Coram's headquarters are at Brunswick Square in London.[5] It operates as a registered voluntary adoption agency and fostering service and in July 2024, Ofsted rated it as "outstanding".[6]

Adoption and care

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Coram Adoption is an independent adoption service working in London and the surrounding areas.[7] They also work in partnership with local authorities.[8] Their partnership with the London Borough of Harrow was the first use of the model.[9][10] Coram were also one of the pioneers of 'concurrent planning' (also known as 'foster to adopt'), and received government funding to become a 'National Centre of Excellence in Early Years Permanence' in 2012.[11][12]

In 2015 the British Association for Adoption and Fostering went into administration. Coram took over many of the services in England, offering a total of £40,000 and taking on 50 of the 135 employees. The membership, training and research organisation became CoramBAAF. The Independent Review Mechanism (England) was taken over by Coram Children's Legal Centre. The National Adoption Register for England is now run by First4Adoption (jointly run by Coram and Adoption UK).[13][14]

Coram-i, a company part of the Coram group, helps local authorities improve children’s services by offering consultancy in areas like adoption, fostering, and special guardianship. In 2021, Coram-i launched The Coram Innovation Incubator (CII) in collaboration with ten local authorities – along with EY, Microsoft and PA Consulting – a specialist vehicle for children’s services providers to generate, test and scale innovative solutions to shared challenges facing the children’s social care sector.

Coram IAC (Intercountry Adoption Centre) is the UK's only dedicated international adoption charity and joined Coram in 2023. Since 1997, the organisation has been supporting prospective adopters through preparation, assessment, and the process of being matched with a child from abroad.

Education

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Coram Life Education runs programmes in schools to educate children about health, wellbeing, and drugs. It was formed in 2009 as an amalgamation between Coram and Life Education.[15]

Coram Beanstalk equips adults and young people to ‘do reading’ better with children through volunteer reading helpers, school and peer mentoring programmes and community groups.

Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) works with schools across the UK to give young people the opportunity to build their confidence, skills and knowledge by learning about and performing Shakespeare.

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In 2011, the Children's Legal Centre and Coram were amalgamated into Coram Children's Legal Centre (CCLC).[16] CCLC’s support covers education, discrimination, immigration, asylum, community care and family law. Coram International is part of CCLC, working with governments, UN bodies, IGOs and NGOs worldwide to protect and promote children and young people’s human rights.

In 2013, the charity Voice merged with Coram to form Coram Voice.[17] Coram Voice is a children’s rights organisation, championing the rights of children in care, care leavers and others who depend upon the help of the state.

Research and evaluation

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The Coram Institute is a think tank dedicated to the future of children, working with partners and young people to learn from the past, examine current needs and create better chances for the next generation. The Institute informs and influences policy and practice, and collaborates with relevant partners to deliver solutions to the challenges children and young people face today.

A key area of the Institute, the Coram Impact and Evaluation team conducts research involving children, young people, parents, and professionals to identify and promote best practices that improve outcomes for children.

Early years, family and childcare

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Coram Family and Childcare (CFC) publishes the annual childcare survey, the reference for understanding cost and availability of childcare across Great Britain. It also delivers parent-led programmes nationwide.

In 2023, Hempsall’s joined Coram as Coram Hempsall’s. Operating since 1999, the organisation supports practitioners, providers, local authorities, and governments in delivering sustainable early years and childcare services.

Foundling Museum

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Main article: Foundling Museum

The historic collections of the Foundling Hospital were moved in the 1920s to Brunswick Square, London, where a museum was established. In 1998 the building and collections were formally constituted as a separate charity, the Foundling Museum.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Lucas, John (1979). The Magic of London's Museums. Exley Publications. pp. 142–143. ISBN 0905521234.
  2. ^ Weir, Sue (1993). Weir's guide to medical museums in Britain. Royal Society of Medicine Services. pp. 115–116.
  3. ^ Hastie, Scott (1999). Berkamsted: An Illustrated History. Kings Langley: Alpine Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-9528631-1-1.
  4. ^ "Thomas Coram Foundation for Children (formerly Foundling Hospital), registered charity no. 312278". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  5. ^ "THOMAS CORAM FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN (FORMERLY FOUNDLING HOSPITAL): Contact Information". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Thomas Coram Foundation for Children". Ofsted. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  7. ^ "About us". Coram Adoption. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Our local authority partnerships". Coram. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Evaluation of a new model of providing adoption services: the LBHarrow and Coram partnership". School for Policy Studies. University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  10. ^ Garboden, Molly (20 November 2009). "Harrow and Coram partnership over adoption". Community Care. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  11. ^ Richardson, Hannah (20 December 2011). "Adoptive parents talk of baby joy after wait". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  12. ^ "More babies in care to receive a stable home more swiftly". Gov.uk. Department for Education. 6 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  13. ^ "The sudden death of BAAF: How it happened and what it may mean for social work". Community Care. 15 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  14. ^ Farey-Jones, Daniel (3 August 2015). "Job losses as adoption charity succumbs to financial pressures". Third Sector. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  15. ^ Little, Matthew (2 November 2009). "Charity partnerships: Finding new ways to work together". Third Sector. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Children's Legal Centre has joined children's charity Coram". Family Law Week. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  17. ^ Ogden, Joy (1 October 2013). "The children's charity Voice joins the Coram group and changes its name". Third Sector. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  18. ^ "The Foundling Museum, registered charity no. 1071167". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
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