Where your money goes
At Childhood First, we support children who have suffered from abuse, neglect and early-life trauma. All of the funds raised by our wonderful supporters goes to projects supporting the children and helping them to lead healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.
One of our main goals is to help the children to feel safer because if they feel safe that is a base level to start from, that鈥檚 a foundation. If they don鈥檛 feel safe then we have nothing to work with.
We are only able to fund expansion and development of our services and build new homes with donations and trust fundraising support. Every new bed we build is sustained by fees from statutory sources allowing us to take more children who most need our help and who would remain severely at risk without our intervention. Recent fundraising projects include the Reading Room at Greenfields School, the 1-2-1 Therapy Hut at Gables House, our Trips & Holidays Program and more.
To read more about our fundraising at Childhood First please do check out our Autumn Newsletter 2024.
Recent Fundraising Highlights
1-2-1 Therapy Suite, Gables House
All staff working directly with the children are undergoing psychotherapy training, administered by our own Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy and in partnership with Middlesex University and UKCP. This means that we now have our own qualified psychotherapeutic clinicians who can administer 1-2-1 therapy with the children.
1-2-1 therapy has been rolled out across all five of our communities to enhance the wrap-around care we are able to provide. As a result, some additional spaces separate from the main house were required to facilitate this.
Reading Room, Greenfields Lower School
Greenfields School in Kent, which accommodates for the children aged 5-11 required a separate reading room for the children to relax, read and re-centre themselves with the support of the school staff. Thanks to the stellar fundraising efforts of our Kent Friends Committee, we have been able to create a Reading Room for the children which has also become a popular spot to indulge in some hot chocolate as a treat!
Placement Family Support
Our Placement Family Support service works closely with family members of the children referred to us to facilitate their relationships, and to repair them if they are damaging to the children. Ideally, we would like a dedicated PFS worker in each community and we are currently recruiting at Oakwood House in Kent and Merrywood House in Norfolk. This service is not covered by Local Authority fees.
Trips and Holidays
We continuously seek voluntary contributions to support the cost of holidays, visits to the theatre and camping trips. Thanks to the generosity from our supporters during the Healing Hurt Minds Christmas Campaign 2023, all of our communities were able to go on lovely holidays this year from Suffolk to Dorset! These experiences are particularly valued and appreciated by the children who may never have been on holiday before.
We have historically and necessarily kept a low profile to safeguard and protect the identity of the children who entrust their care and wellbeing to us. This makes our fundraising particularly challenging and we are so grateful to those who give so generously to support our work.
If you would like to support any of these projects or for more information please contact Clara, our Head of Fundraising on: