First step

First step exists to reach out and support any young person suffering from the effects of abuse, by offering one to one, confidential email support. We aim to help the young people find the support that they deserve and offer up to date information on abuse and its effects.

About the organisation

First Step started as a simple idea back in August 2006. A little over a year later the dream of the organisations founder, Jamie Johnstone, was realised. With funding from the Prince's Trust and a lot of hard work First Step took it’s own First step to go live in October 2007.

Jamie has great experience in supporting people, having worked with adults and youths in a range of positions. This includes working with people who have been abused, have mental health conditions and suffer from eating disorders. It was through this work that he found a need for online abuse support.

Many people have been involved in helping Jamie build this service. In particular Feisal Gwaderi, a business mentor assigned to Jamie by the Prince's Trust, proved to be an invaluable help in both the setup process and in overcoming the challenges Jamie faced to make First Step a friendly and confidential service.

The organisation is being updated and run by a very small team of volunteers and any money that comes in, goes directly back into supporting young people.