Third Sector Podcast The Children’s Society’s boss on the challenges of leadership in a time of polycrisis
Sep 12, 2025
Mark Russell, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, shares his extensive leadership experience in charities, tackling the unique challenges of leading through a time of polycrisis. He candidly discusses the mental health toll of constant crises and the importance of boundary-setting for well-being. Mark emphasizes the necessity for leaders to model healthy behavior and calls for boards to better support exhausted executives. He also highlights a major fundraising appeal aimed at improving child well-being and the vital role of collaboration in driving impactful change.
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Victorian Governance Meets A Modern World
- Charity governance largely follows Victorian-era models and struggles to fit a fast-moving world.
- Modernising meeting schedules and recruiting diverse trustees could widen participation and agility.
Vision Born From Listening
- Mark explains the origins of the 2020–2030 vision after consulting staff, volunteers and young people nationwide.
- The Good Childhood Report showed UK children's wellbeing declined and set the goal to reverse that by 2030.
Scale Early Mental Health Hubs
- Scale early, open-access mental health hubs to intervene before crisis and measure impact rigorously.
- Use evidence to make a financial case to government for large-scale investment and broader systemic change.