The Anglican Trust for Women and Children is one of Auckland’s oldest charities – with its origins stretching back more than 150 years.

During the 1850s Auckland was a hard-drinking, rough pioneer society where children had no automatic right to schooling. Many sufered from life-threatening diseases, were abandoned by their parents or sent out to work early.

In 1858 the Anglican Church set up an orphan’s home at a cottage in Parnell to help some of the city’s many neglected children. The home, which later moved to a much larger building in Parnell, heralded the beginning of the charitable work of what would become the Anglican Trust for Women and Children.

From its small but determined start, ATWC has evolved into a major Auckland charity which provides critical care to mothers, children and families throughout Auckland to help them build healthy, happy lives.

Mothers’ Union is a Christian organisation that has been supporting families worldwide for over 140 years. Started by our founder Mary Sumner in 1876 in her local parish, we have grown into an international charity with over 4 million members in 84 countries.

As a Christian membership charity, we demonstrate our faith in action. This happens as we work towards stopping poverty, stopping inequality and stopping injustice. Our members work at grassroots level around the world. They bring hope and practical support to millions of people every year through parenting, literacy and community development programmes.