Childhood First

Founded over a century ago by Jewish philanthropists to rehabilitate teenage boys who had got into trouble with the law. 

A pioneer in the field of environmental therapy, also known as therapeutic community, since the development of Peper Harow in 1970.  

Developed our unique clinically recognised approach, Integrated Systemic Therapy (iST), gaining UKCP accreditation in 2015.   

We currently operate five iST children’s homes: Earthsea House (f.1999) and Merrywood House (f.2005) in Norfolk, Greenfields House and School (f.1999), Gables House (f.2012) and Oakwood House (f.2021) in Kent.  

We developed the iST Therapeutic Fostering service using an adapted version of the therapeutic approach used in our children’s homes. 

Established the parent charity as the research and training Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy, to maintain our position as a pioneer in children’s mental health treatment development.

We have plans to develop an additional community in Norfolk and expand our education provision, as well as trialing a number of other applications of our iST approach, as fundraising permits.

For over half a century our pioneering work in mental health has been renowned for its creativity and effectiveness in rehabilitating the most severely traumatised children and young people suffering the effects of relational trauma.