SOS Children’s Villages UK is changing the way it supports vulnerable children, moving away from its historic “Village” model toward family strengthening, community-based care and advocacy for children who are without or at risk of losing parental care.
The organization announced that it will withdraw from the international SOS Children’s Villages Federation and transition over the coming months to become a fully independent organization with a new identity. The organization said the change reflects developments in child care and protection practices and its experience working with local partners around the world.
“Our focus is changing, but our commitment to children is not,” SOS Children’s Villages UK said in an Aug. 19 statement.
For more than 50 years, SOS Children’s Villages UK has connected supporters in the United Kingdom with programs supporting children and families around the world. The organization said its work has increasingly focused on helping families remain together and ensuring children receive support within their families and communities, rather than providing direct care through the traditional SOS “Village” model.
From villages to family-based care
The organization said its experience working with local partners has shown that there is no single model of care that works for every child and family.
SOS Children’s Villages UK defines family-based care broadly, including care provided by parents, extended family members, kinship networks, trusted adults and community-based arrangements. In some contexts, children may be raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles or older siblings rather than their parents.
The organization said this understanding has shaped a gradual shift in its approach.
“For years, we have been shifting our focus more on to helping family structures around the world stay together,” the organization said. “Today, we focus more on helping families stay together and helping communities support children, rather than providing care through the children’s ‘Village’ model that many people associate with SOS Children’s Villages.”
Krish Kandiah, a Christian leader and advocate for children and families, welcomed the change. In a comment on Facebook, Kandiah wrote: “For 50 years, this charity put children in villages. This week, they admitted that was the wrong answer. SOS Children’s Villages UK built its whole model around institutional care.
“Now they are walking away from it. I believe what they have done is not only brave but should be the end of institutional care for children as we know it.”
SOS Children’s Villages UK announced in March that it had decided to withdraw its membership from the international federation. The organization said the federation model, established more than 75 years ago, no longer best suited its direction or the needs of the children it serves.
The organization said becoming independent will give it greater flexibility to work with local partners and expand community-based programs that can benefit greater numbers of children.
Sponsorship model also changing
As part of the transition, SOS Children’s Villages UK has also ended its child and village sponsorship offering.
The organization said the decision is intended to direct the money it raises toward supporting greater numbers of children through community-based and sustainable programs. It said the approach reflects what it has learned through its work about how best to support children and families.
The change does not mean the organization is withdrawing from work with children who need alternative care. SOS Children’s Villages UK continues to work with local partners and says it is strengthening safeguarding practices while supporting children and families in different contexts.
It also plans to expand its advocacy work for children who are without or at risk of losing parental care, including efforts to ensure that children’s experiences are considered in decisions affecting them.
A broader shift in child care
The changes at SOS Children’s Villages UK come amid a wider international movement toward family-based and community-based care for children separated from their parents or at risk of separation.
The organization has been involved in global care reform for decades, including work that contributed to the development of the U.N. Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children. In 2025, SOS Children’s Villages UK also endorsed the Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform, which calls for reforms to child protection systems and greater efforts to prevent unnecessary family separation.
SOS Children’s Villages UK has emphasized that the goal of care reform is not simply to close residential institutions, but to address the circumstances that cause children to be separated from their families and ensure that appropriate alternatives are available when parental care is not possible.
The organization’s new direction therefore places greater emphasis on preventing family separation, strengthening families and communities, and supporting children who do require alternative care.
New identity expected in October
SOS Children’s Villages UK said it plans to announce its new name and launch a new organizational identity in October.
The organization said the transition represents more than a change in its name or logo. It is intended to reflect a broader evolution in how the organization works with children and families and how it advocates for children without or at risk of losing parental care.
Despite the structural and strategic changes, SOS Children’s Villages UK said its central commitment remains unchanged: helping children grow up with the love, safety and support they need.
“Our decisions have always been shaped by our strong values, and most importantly have focused on what is best for the children we are here for,” the organization said.
