Mercy in Action was never planned, but came about after founders John and Allison Todd had an unexpected encounter with five street boys during a trip to the Philippines in 1995. The boys hadn’t eaten for three days and were begging on the streets. Moved by the plight of children the same age as their son, John and Allison took them for a meal of chicken and rice.

In 2003 Mercy in Action became a registered charity as we began working amidst some of the poorest communities in the Philippines. From those 5 street kids we grew into working with hundreds of homeless children who were being neglected, abused and trafficked on the streets. Many of them have now been supported into education, employment and housing.

Working closely within these marginalised communities we were seeing the underlaying causes of poverty that had allowed children and families to become vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. As a result we grew to encompass projects which are vital for whole communities. Not just responding to a crisis but keeping our focus on long term solutions, advocacy and prevention. Our schooling programme grew to support at-risk children and youth through their entire education, our advocacy for the poor within the local government grew as well as skills training, housing and mentoring for parents and young adults.

Over the years we began to see homelessness and food insecurity rising in the UK. With a growing vision and team our first UK project was launched in 2016 by Laura and Tim Jones. They brought with them 12 years of experience fostering and supporting young mums and babies. Laura and Tim founded Petra Project, providing homely, safe and nurturing housing for homeless mums and babies. After the first home was established in Bath, Petra has grown steadily and now incorporates five houses, a moving on apartment, community support groups, support workers and volunteers.

In 2019 we expanded again with Allison launching Clothesline, a project aimed to provide free quality clothing, shoes and school uniforms to children and young people facing hardship. Shortly after opening we began to see first-hand how food insecurity was impacting our communities. As a result, we partnered with Fareshare south west and opened Action Pantry. Providing fresh food to families who need it, it whilst preventing food waste.

As our projects in the UK and the Philippines continue to grow, our heart behind each one remains the same. Mercy is more than a feeling, it’s an action. For each life we encounter we want to show the same value, love and kindness that John and Allison showed to 5 street children all those years ago.