homes and starting to offer support to keep children with their families. In 1994, the charity changed its name to 'NCH Action for Children'. Fourteen years later, in September 2008, it became 'Action for Children'. The changes were part of the shift away from providing children's homes (most of which have now closed) to a wider range of services. In December 2016, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, succeeded The Queen as patron of the organisation. Child migration The NCH set up a child emigration scheme in 1873 and a branch in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, opened. This programme of sending children to Canada, where they were called Home Children, has been criticised and children have been found to have been abused following migration. The NCH itself has said that "the experience of migration was profoundly damaging to significant numbers of the children concerned". NCH is estimated to have sent 3,500 children to Canada between 1873 and 1931, and a small number of children to Australia in the 1930s and early 1950s. The Independent Inquiry found that some children were sent by the NCH without their parents' consent, and that some children who wanted to come back to the UK were not allowed by the NCH to do so. The Inquiry concluded that, although the NCH's principles of care had been ambitious for the time, some children were placed in "harsh conditions": The organisation continues to offer an information and record access service to people who were sent overseas as children under its auspices. Projects and services Action for Children works in partnership with statutory bodies to deliver services for children, young people and their families in five main areas: Family support Action for Children is a major provider of family support services and works in partnership with local authorities across the UK. The aim is to facilitate early intervention and then offer long term help, so families can stay together if possible. This is provided through children's and family centres, parenting programmes and targeted intervention initiatives, often with the hardest to reach groups in the community. Disability Action for Children runs specialist projects for disabled children and those with learning and behavioural difficulties. These include residential care, short breaks and respite care services, keyworker support for families and carers, and advocacy work to help young disabled people transition into adulthood. Children in care Action for Children is a registered adoption agency and