About us

The Who Cares? Trust is a voice and a champion for children and young people in the UK living in care.

Despite recent advances in policy and legislation, many children in care still face a future of extreme under-achievement, instability and poverty. All too often, these young people are on the outside looking in on the opportunities their peers experience as a matter of course. They can feel socially excluded for their whole lifetime; their trust and self-esteem can be so undermined that they are unable to achieve their full potential. They have to cope with obstacles far beyond the normal milestones of development experienced by all children as they grow up.

The Who Cares? Trust was set up as a charity in 1992 to improve the everyday lives and future life chances of these children, of whom there are currently 74,000 around the UK. The charity grew out of the magazine Who Cares? (started in 1985) which we still publish today.

As well as helping thousands of children in care directly through our publications and projects, we also help bring about change by guiding and influencing those responsible for children in care. We help them to think and do differently, with the needs and perspective of the child at the centre.

We give young people in care a voice through their involvement in our magazines and publications, and by helping them relay their concerns and views to decision-makers in local and central government.

With the right help and people in their lives who believe in them, every child in care can thrive. The Who Cares? Trust is dedicated to making this vision a reality.