The Coram Institute for Children
The Coram Institute for Children will be the UK’s first leading centre dedicated to improving the life chances of children, informing and influencing best policy and practice. It will house the UK’s first technology hub focused on creating innovative solutions to the challenges facing children and young people today.
The Coram Institute will be home to a new library of care, which will be a national resource for children’s services professionals. It will also house The Story Centre, which will showcase Coram’s historic archive and spotlight the lives of children from the past 300 years, drawing on work by young people of today.
The Coram Institute will ensure that the experiences of young people today and in the future are recognised and acted upon. It will champion their welfare, uphold their rights and create an enduring impact, safeguarding the needs of children for generations to come.
Queen Elizabeth II Centre
Her Late Majesty the Queen officially opened the Queen Elizabeth II Centre at our central London campus in December 2018, as part of our celebrations to mark the 350th anniversary of Thomas Coram’s birth. The centre is dedicated to the promotion of children’s rights and best practice, and helps us work with our network of partners to transform the lives of children. The Queen Elizabeth II Centre encompasses the Coram’s Children’s Rights Centre, The Rangoonwala Conference and Learning Centre, and The Co-Production Unit, which champions children’s voices in decisions that matter to them. The centre was made possible by generous donations from a number of supporters led by The Queen’s Trust and ZVM Rangoonwala Foundation.
Skylights (2o16), a film by Ken Wilder
In 2016, a site-specific installation by Dr Ken Wilder, a reader in spatial design at the Chelsea College of Art, celebrated the historic mortuary on the Coram campus prior to the construction of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. See the video below for more.
The Pears Pavilion
In 2015, we opened the Pears Pavilion, our home for adoption support and Creative Therapies services. Named after its lead donor, the Pears Foundation, the purpose-built centre provides a safe place where vulnerable children can receive adoption support and express difficult emotions and feelings through art and music. The building was made possible with the generous support of Tokens of Love Gala Dinner 2013 and 2014, United Children of the World Charitable Trust, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Clothworkers’ Foundation, The Wolfson Foundation, Landaid Charitable Trust, the Fawcett family, Peter Brown and Romey Brown OBE.
Education Centre
Our Education Centre opened in 2013. We are immensely grateful to Bear Necessities – Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2011, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the United Children of the World Charitable Trust, the Tokens of Love Gala Dinner committees, the Beatrice Laing Trust, the Fawcett Family, the Worshipful Company of Paviors, CHK Charities Limited, and many others for making the Education Centre possible. In the future, educators will be trained here to help children nationwide make healthier choices in life.