The Children's Society Case Study

About The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society is a national charity providing an extensive network of frontline services, delivered by its own staff and supported by an army of volunteers. Together, they tackle child poverty and neglect head on, from helping families trapped in debt, child runaways and young carers, to stopping child sexual exploitation.

The Children’s Society have worked with over 18,000 vulnerable children and young people and it continues to make a difference to millions of children in the UK who would otherwise have nowhere else to turn.

The Challenge

The Children’s Society employs more than 1,200 talented and dedicated staff across England and works with the support of hundreds of volunteers.

A huge number of professionals come into contact with children and young people as a result of their various roles, and even if they have no direct involvement, it is important that they have an understanding of safeguarding.

Delivering appropriate and effective training economically to this large, diverse group is therefore a significant challenge. The Children’s Society provides a blended solution of face-to-face and online learning to help meet this challenge.

/n/n### The Solution

The Children’s Society uses online learning from Virtual College as a key part of its mandatory induction programme. The courses, which include topics such as Introduction to Safeguarding Children, Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect, and Data Protection, are delivered to over 1,000 staff members across England.

These learners span a wide variety of job roles—from finance and fundraising teams based at head office, to frontline support staff and retail employees working in the charity’s network of shops. While the training is mandatory for new employees, volunteers are also given access to the courses on an optional basis.

The Results

St Rocco’s Hospice has significantly improved its training delivery and compliance through the adoption of online learning. Staff now benefit from 24/7 access to mandatory training, which suits the operational demands of a hospice providing care around the clock.

The introduction of e-learning has enhanced the quality and retention of learning compared to the previous workbook-based system. Training records are now centralised within the learning management system, streamlining administration and enabling accurate, real-time reporting—critical for meeting CQC requirements.

The hospice has achieved very high learner participation and compliance rates across both clinical and non-clinical staff, with an overall learner pass rate of 98%. The system also identifies staff due for refresher training, reducing the need for time-consuming manual tracking.

Manual processes, such as maintaining Excel-based training records, have largely been eliminated, saving staff time and improving efficiency. Cost savings have also been realised by reducing the amount of face-to-face training required.