MB Associates is working with The Children’s Society to help boost its fundraising efforts. We spoke to Lauren Falconer from The Children's Society about its work to support the mental health of young people and her own personal ‘Year of Endurance’ fundraising challenge.
At MB Associates, we believe in supporting organisations that make a real difference to people’s lives. We’re proud to support The Children’s Society, a charity dedicated to helping vulnerable children and young people overcome challenges and reach their full potential.
Lauren Falconer is Senior Development Manager at The Children's Society. Lauren explains that the charity conducts ongoing research into young people’s mental health and uses its findings to provide early help, including through a network of welcoming drop-in spaces called Time for Young People hubs.
Last year, the charity secured funding through Project Giving Back, a charitable organisation that works in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society to help charities create gardens at major shows. Lauren was involved in the early stages of the funding pitch and said it was incredibly rewarding to see the outcome.
The end result was a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show that was created by young people and inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which celebrates beauty in imperfection. The design used reclaimed and repurposed materials to create something striking from items that might otherwise have been discarded.
A positive wellbeing space
Given the right care and opportunity, the plants featured in the garden can thrive. ‘There’s an obvious parallel there with young people,’ says Lauren. ‘It shows they can often be overlooked, especially teenagers. The garden was built with and for young people to be a wellbeing space that encourages reflection and contemplation.’
The garden has since been relocated to The Children’s Society’s youth centre at Leighton Buzzard, where it will serve as the charity’s first dedicated outdoor wellbeing space. It will continue to be shaped by young people.
The Good Childhood Report
The Children’s Society conducts ongoing research into young people’s wellbeing, culminating in the annual publication of the Good Childhood Report. ‘With our most recent report, we held more in-depth consultations with young people. One of the things that came out of that was school pressures,’ says Lauren. ‘One of the biggest ones was societal expectations; for girls, that feeds into the appearance issue – you see what other people look like on social media, and this creates a sense of dissatisfaction with self. Exposure to negative content in that environment was also picked up on, along with peer pressure and bullying.’
Lauren adds: ‘One of the themes that comes out when we talk to young people is that there’s this proactivity of wanting to make things better for themselves and others, and yet at the same time, bullying and peer pressure are problems. Then there’s this nuance of social media and the way that everything operates online these days. There are benefits to social media, because young people can use it to connect with people. The online space can be really supportive. But then it also creates risks around grooming. For example, young people in the LGBTQ community are more likely to go online to seek connections, but that also creates a situation where they’re more likely to be targeted.’
Lesser-known risks young people face
The Children’s Society is raising awareness of some of the lesser-known risks young people face, such as exploitation. ‘There are more hidden issues, such as criminal, sexual and financial exploitation. We’re instrumental in raising awareness of these issues and helping to prevent them from happening,’ Lauren says.
Raising awareness of exploitation risks also means that the public and people who work in key industries like transport, hospitality and retail can spot the signs of a young person being exploited and report it. The charity also provides direct support to help keep young people safe, both as a preventative measure and after exploitation has occurred. This is often in the form of mentoring, education and wellbeing support.
Year of Endurance Challenge
Last year, after previously running the London Marathon, Lauren decided to launch her own personal challenge. She took on her self-titled Year of Endurance to raise more funds for The Children’s Society. Here, she shares more about the challenge and her fundraising efforts.
‘I ran the marathon, which went pretty well. After that, it was about cycling. I only started running in 2020, but I’ve been cycling for much longer. I got inspired by the 2012 Olympics and started track cycling. My coach got me into time trials as part of my training.
‘In 2024, after the marathon, I did my time trial season. I did the British Best All-Rounder competition, which combines 50-mile and 100-mile and 12-hour performances. That included my first 100-mile time trial. Prior to 2024, I’d ridden 100 miles only twice in my life. Then I rode 100 miles four times during 2024, so I more than doubled my number of century rides.
Achieving a life goal
‘The season culminated in a 12-hour time trial, covering 234 miles. That ticked off another life goal, which was to complete a double century ride. Then in October, I walked from my home in Poole to our national charity office in central London over six days, covering nearly 150 miles. The last day was shorter, but for the first five days I averaged more than a marathon a day of walking.
‘On the biggest days, I was out for around nine hours. There was so much to it mentally. With running a marathon or cycling, all you have to do is get on and do it. With the walking, there was navigation. I spent so much time on country lanes, and there was the safety aspect of deciding which side of the road to be on and watching out for cars. Psychologically, it was draining.
‘There were moments when something hadn’t gone to plan navigationally, and I didn’t really know what to do. There were times when I genuinely thought, “Maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Maybe I can’t actually do this.” And then I did.
‘By day six, I had a nasty blister underneath one of my toes, which was quite painful. I also had a little nerve pain overnight and experienced a searing feeling in one of my toes. I remember thinking, “Oh God, have I done myself any damage?” Fortunately, after a couple of days, it was fine.
Fundraising amounts
‘I raised £4,200 that year. Our chief executive also ran the marathon that year and raised about £12,000. It’s also quite funny because I work in the business development team, which brings in £10–15 million a year, and then I’m there busting a gut to raise a few thousand pounds.
‘However, an important distinction is that all the money that comes into the organisation through my work is what we call restricted income. We’re being paid to deliver a specific thing. Money raised through challenge events is unrestricted, which means it can be invested wherever we think it will have the greatest impact.
‘Seeing young people, listening to them, understanding what’s going on for them, and then providing them with the support they need to be able to move through whatever they’re struggling with and thrive even in hard conditions is what it’s all about.’
For more details about The Children’s Society’s work, visit the website.