About us
Our vision
We empower parents to break cycles of abuse, to transform the life-chances of whole families and move forward in positive change, starting with the baby. The baby is at the heart of everything we do.
Our values
Respect
Integrity
safety
empowerment
Respect: Valuing every voice, every experience.
We treat everyone with dignity, respecting diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. We value teamwork and collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
Integrity: Doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
We act with honesty and compassion, building trust through consistent, transparent, and ethical behaviour.
Safety: Creating safe spaces for growth and healing.
We take a trauma-informed approach, prioritising the physical and emotional safety of babies, families, all those we work with, the wider community and our teams.
Empowerment: Supporting others to lead their own change.
We enable people to take control of their lives, fostering confidence and self-determination.
Our trauma informed approach
We are a trauma-informed organisation, which means we strive to adhere to the key principles of trauma-informed practice:
Safety
Trust
Choice
Empowerment
Collaboration
Cultural Consideration
Our Theory of Change
At The For Baby’s Sake Trust, we have developed two distinct Theories of Change to underpin our work. One focuses specifically on our programme, For Baby’s Sake, mapping the journey of transformation for parents, babies, and families impacted by domestic abuse. The other outlines the overarching change we aim to achieve as a Trust, driving systemic improvements in responses to domestic abuse, early childhood development, and trauma. Together, these frameworks guide our approach and demonstrate the impact of our work at both a personal and societal level.
Our story
The Beginning
The For Baby’s Sake Trust (originally named the Stefanou Foundation) was set up philanthropically by Stelio Stefanou. His founding vision was to tackle the root causes of disadvantage and vulnerability, focusing on very young babies who do not have a voice. Stelio chaired the charity for 14 years, providing inspirational leadership until stepping down from the Board in December 2022.
Research, design, innovation
Evidence about the scale and impact of domestic abuse, on babies in the womb until the age of two, led us to focus on supporting families in the first two years of their baby’s life.
We had the time and space to innovate, determined to create a new way to break intergenerational cycles of trauma.
Launching the For Baby’s Sake Programme
In 2015 we started our new therapeutic programme, working with families in Hertfordshire and London. The programme, targeting the effects of domestic abuse on unborn and very young babies, is the first to take a whole-family approach. We commissioned a major evaluation of its development and operation, from 2015-2019, led by King’s College London.
Collaboration and expansion
In August 2019, the For Baby’s Sake programme opened to families in Cambridgeshire in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council. By the end of 2019, a new Blackpool team was in place, in partnership with Blackpool Council and on behalf of Blackpool Better Start. These collaborative agreements with local authorities launched the area-based roll-out of our programme.
Lockdown, proven success and our films
In March 2020, we immediately moved to delivering For Baby’s Sake CONNECT through video and phone calls with parents. Engagement remained high with existing families and with those who joined the programme during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In May 2020, we published a major four-year evaluation of the programme, led by King’s College London. The academic research team concluded that For Baby’s Sake is the ‘first’ known programme to ‘fill an important gap’ through ‘unique features’ that ‘address key limitations’ of responses to domestic abuse.
Later in the year, in September, we launched a short animated film. This authentic and personal way of showing how we work has helped us reach new audiences.
CONNECT, system change and community
Influencing policy and practice
New resources and increased reach
2023 began with the launch of our Emotional Safety Plan tool and the Safer Beginnings resources, and new films shared powerful contributions from parents sharing their experiences of participating in our programme.
We continued driving broader changes in policy and practice, creating and gathering evidence, sharing learning, and influencing policy at local and national level. In December 2023, we received confirmation that For Baby’s Sake would be included as one of a small number of programmes to be funded and supported to work with Foundations.
We were also thrilled to welcome our new CEO, Lauren Seager-Smith to the team.
Strengthening support and leading change
2024 was marked by significant achievements and developments. We were thrilled to secure funding from an incredible range of supporters, alongside three-year funding from the London Bi-borough to continue delivering For Baby’s Sake.
Our work gained academic recognition with publication in the Journal of Family Violence, and a range of national news outlets. We strengthened our governance with the appointments of Dr. Gillian Rose and Sami Rahman to our Board of Trustees and welcomed Richard Spencer as our new Ambassador.
Additionally, we published our Theories of Change for the Trust and the programme and released compelling new data highlighting the impact of domestic abuse on babies present at police callouts. These milestones reflect our unwavering commitment to breaking the cycle of domestic abuse for the sake of babies, parents, and families.
Our 26 – 29 Strategy
We have a bold 10 year goal – that every UK family can access support to break cycles of domestic abuse and give their baby the best start in life.
Babies in Mind shares our strategy as a Trust for the next three years. None of us can predict the future, but together we can commit to being a voice for the voiceless and take steps towards greater protection for all babies and children.
Our 2024 – 2025
Impact Report
Our 2024 – 2025 Impact Report highlights the transformative changes we’ve made in the lives of babies and families, as well as our influence on policy and practice. In the report, you’ll discover how we’ve championed whole-family, trauma-informed therapeutic support to break cycles of domestic abuse, giving babies the best possible start in life.
