About CHILDREN 1ST
CHILDREN 1ST is the working name of the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, one of Scotland’s leading child welfare charities. For more than 120 years we have been working to give every child in Scotland a safe and secure childhood. We support families under stress, protect children from harm and neglect, help them recover from abuse and promote children’s rights and interests.
We currently run six national and 41 local services across Scotland. The work is not easy and there are no cheap or easy solutions when dealing with violent abuse, family breakdown or drug and alcohol addiction.
It costs us over £19,000 every day to run our projects, and every donation, big or small, helps to improve the lives of children who have lived through things most of us can hardly imagine.
Our national services include ParentLine Scotland (0808 800 2222), the free helpline for anyone caring for a child; therapeutic storytelling to help children deal with difficulties in their lives and child protection training.
We help children through:
• One-to-one work – our caring staff use storytelling, talking, play and art therapy to help children recover from physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
• Supporting families – we believe that most parents want the best for their children and that often the best way to help children is by helping their families. We do this through family group meetings (see campaigning priorities below) and our family support services.
• Befriending – we run five bfriends service in Edinburgh and Midlothian which match trained volunteers with children and young people at risk of exclusion from their homes, schools or communities, as well as a service for young carers.
• Mediation and advocacy – we help vulnerable children in the child protection system to have their views heard and have a say in the decisions affecting their future.
• Child protection training – we run accessible courses for adults on how to keep children, including those who take part in sport, safe.
As one of Scotland’s leading children's charities, CHILDREN 1ST has a powerful voice in influencing politicians on issues affecting children and young people. Our current campaigning priorities include:
• Lobbying the Scottish Government to strengthen families by establishing long-term, locally-available family support services across Scotland.
• Mainstreaming family group conferencing and supporting and expanding kinship care. CHILDREN 1ST has pioneered the use of family group meetings, which bring members of the extended family together where a child is at risk of being taken into care or when other significant decision about their future have to be made.
• Creating more abuse recovery services. Abuse in childhood must not be allowed to cloud the rest of a child's life - healing must happen and children must be given hope again for their future. Abuse recovery services however are often the least funded. We want all children to be able to access the help they need when they need it.
• Child witnesses: Many young people whose cases have gone to court tell us that the trial is often as bad as the abuse. As a member of the Scottish Justice for Children coalition, CHILDREN 1ST campaigns for further change to ensure that children can give their best evidence in court and that they are not denied justice.
• An end to the physical punishment of children. Yes, children need boundaries and rules to be safe and happy, but adults must recognise that hitting children is harmful and does not make them better children. We want to see children afforded the same protection from physical assault as adults and help made available for parents on how to provide effective, non-violent discipline.
• Protecting children to be made a top priority in Scotland. Children depend on adults to keep them safe and most adults want to be people who children can trust. We want MSPs to support a public awareness issue on child protection issues so that everyone knows how to play their part.
Last year, thanks to the help of our supporters, we were able to help more than 2,360 vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. With your help, we can continue to work towards our aim of one day every child in Scotland enjoying a safe, happy and secure childhood.
More information on how we are working to keep Scotland’s children safe is available at www.children1st.org.uk.
Registered Charity No: SC 016092
Our history
Children 1st owes its existence to a little American girl called Mary Ellen, who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Eight-year-old New Yorker, Mary Ellen, suffered terrible violence and abuse from her adoptive parents. She was discovered by a church worker, who tried to persuade the police and other authorities to do something to protect her. An absence of laws to allow intervention left the agencies powerless to help.
In desperation the church worker turned to the New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Their officers went to Mary Ellen's house, removed her, and successfully prosecuted the adoptive parents, citing cruelty to 'an animal of the human species'.
Until Mary Ellen's lawsuit, the law treated children as their parents' property; parents could do as they wished to their child.
As a result of Mary Ellen's case, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was established in 1875. In 1884, the first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was established in London. Branches were set up throughout Scotland and, in 1889, the Glasgow and Edinburgh branches joined to form the Scottish National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
In the same year of 1889, the first Act of Parliament for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was passed. This Act, commonly referred to as 'the Children's Charter', was a result of five years lobbying by supporters throughout the UK.
The NSPCC, our sister charity, also emerged at this time and now operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although separate organisations, we work together to improve the lives of children and families throughout the UK.
In 1921 the Scottish National Society received Royal Charter and became the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC).
Initially set up to rescue children living rough and begging on the streets, the Society became better known for investigating child abuse and neglect. In the past, the Society's Inspectors, often referred to as the 'Cruelty Men', investigated cases of abuse and neglect reported by the general public.
In 1968, new legislation gave responsibility for investigating child abuse to local authority social work departments. As a result, the role of RSSPCC changed. It was some years before the charity changed its name to reflect this change in role, adopting the campaigning name Children 1st in 1995.