[6] The homes were divided into small family units run by a 'house mother' and 'house father', which was in marked contrast to the large institutions and workhouses common at the time.

[6] Further properties in Alverstoke, Hampshire; Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; Frodsham, Cheshire; and Bramhope near Leeds were acquired, and, by 1908, the charity had grown to become the 'National Children's Home and Orphanage'.

In these respects, the NCH failed to take sufficient care to protect child migrants from the risk of sexual abuse.The organisation continues to offer an information and record-access service to people who were sent overseas as children under its auspices.

This is provided through children's and family centres, parenting programmes, and targeted intervention initiatives, often with the hardest-to-reach groups in the community.

Issues these young people may face include alcohol and substance misuse, anti-social behaviour, homelessness, and unemployment.

This support is provided through a range of services, which offer counselling, help with housing and benefits, access to training and education, basic skills tuition, mediation, and mentoring.

The charity's aim is to offer a secure environment in which to facilitate educational, social and personal development adapted to pupils' individual abilities.

[21] The charity also produces a yearly Impact Report,[22] which details research findings on the outcomes and cost effectiveness of its work supporting children and young people.

One of the charity's current campaigns, 'Best Start in Life', seeks to address the issue of children – particularly those from poorer backgrounds – struggling to receive the right early years support.

The campaign calls on the government to take urgent action so that children under five do not fall behind, either due to cuts in vital services or unequal access to opportunities.

[24][25][better source needed] The charity also leads the children and families work of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness and is a partner of End Child Poverty.

[31][better source needed] The campaign encouraged the public to become a Secret Santa for a vulnerable child, donating £10 or more to support children in the UK at Christmas.

Because of its links to the Methodist Church, which opposes gambling, before 2003 Action for Children did not accept National Lottery funding.