Parents 1st was born out of a national research study (2005-2007) by our founder, Celia Suppiah. The research was funded by the Health Foundation.
Ten community parent programmes across England, Wales and Scotland participated in the study. This identified an urgent need for a national umbrella organisation to further develop and support 'Community Parent' volunteering initiatives of the highest quality.
Read our story and find out how Parents 1st has evolved over the years...
Since 2008 we have:
- Developed an innovative 'Pregnancy Pal and Birth Buddy' programme in South Essex
- Supported over 1000 expectant and new parents each year
- Established a replicable affiliate peer-support programme
- Won the UnLtd Big Venture Challenge (2013)
- Provided workshops, resources and evaluation services to organisations across England
- Delivered City & Guilds qualifications to volunteers
- Carried out research and continuous evaluation
- Authored the Volunteering Evidence Review in partnership with IVAR
- Published an Implementation Framework to guide the five 'A Better Start' sites across England