National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British charity organization that helps children and parents with problems affecting the family. The society investigates cases of child neglect and mistreatment, and it works to prevent the break-up of families. The society runs teams of child protection specialists in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The ISPCC (Irish Society) operates in the Republic of Ireland. Both the ISPCC and the NSPCC are voluntary. They employ professionally trained staff social workers and playgroup staff. Churches, health boards, labor unions, and similar groups help to support the societies.
Benjamin Waugh, an English clergyman, founded the society in 1884 as the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty. The society developed into the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1889, the year the British Parliament passed the first Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act.
