New name for historic Darlington-based charity as it sets out plan to 'do more good'
SJOG has officially become The Do Good Charity
A Darlington-based social care charity - one of the UK's biggest and longest-established - say they're setting out plans to scale up its vital work across the country.
Saint John of God Hospitaller Services – SJOG – has officially become The Do Good Charity. It will continue to provide housing, care and specialist support across disability, autism and complex care, older communities, and modern slavery recovery.
They say the move brings its purpose into plain English after 80 years of operating its national headquarters from Darlington, where it remains one of the town's most significant and enduring charitable institutions.
While the charity operates a massive national footprint—supporting more than 1,800 people every month across 60 UK communities and employing 562 colleagues, with over 97,000 people supported through its digital services during 2025 — Darlington and the Tees Valley remain the absolute heart of its operations.
It manages an extensive network of regional services. This includes Lindisfarne Court in Haughton-le-Skerne and Rockliffe Court in Hurworth, which provides 18 self-contained supported-living homes with 24-hour support for people with physical and sensory disabilities.
Beyond Darlington, its major Tees Valley footprint includes extensive disability and autism support in Middlesbrough, Billingham and Stockton. This includes Dalby View in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, as well as specialist autism services at Fairfields and The Old Vicarage in Stockton.
The charity expanded into its headquarters on Barnard Street in Darlington in 2025 and despite being a large national social care charity, the organisation describes itself as a major force that many people ‘have never heard of’. Until now, the UK charity says it has deliberately adopted the quiet approach of its founder delivering nationwide impact from its North East base rather than actively promoting its name.
Paul Bott, Chief Executive of The Do Good Charity, said: “Since 1946, Darlington has been the proud anchor for our national work. This town has headquartered a charity that impacts tens of thousands of lives across the UK.”
The SJOG charity roots go back even further in the UK to North Yorkshire in 1880, but it was established by St John of God, a Portuguese soldier who became a health care worker in the 1500s, and established an Order and a legacy that today reaches to 54 countries, and supports 7 million people a year.
The new name connects with this wider legacy, and in Italy the Order is known as the Fatebenefratelli the Do Good Brothers.
Paul said: “The Do Good Charity puts our purpose into plain English and, importantly, it is also an invitation, for others to ‘Do Good’ in their community. We’ve been quietly doing good since 1880, and we now want more people, communities, charities, supporters and partners to work with us so that together we can do more good.”
The charity says hospitality, compassion and respect remain its three core values and the charity will continue to support people of all faiths and none.
Paul added: “We're not leaving behind the values that made us. Doing good has been at the heart of this organisation for generations.”
The new name accompanies a new strategy to 2030 based around three commitments: Do Good, Do More Good and Do It Well.