About Kids Come First®
Kids Come First was ‘born’ in 2015 with a clear purpose to deliver specialist support and training to separating or divorcing parents. Our mission is to focus on the needs and rights of children experiencing family transition.
What lies at the heart of Kids Come First is the principle and belief that by helping parents cope well during the challenging, and often, emotionally highly-charged process of separation or divorce – we help children cope much better too! Parents who attend our workshops benefit from specialist support which is reinforced by our unique, customised, child-focused training program. With our practical guidance parents discover how to work successfully towards co-parenting together beyond the separation process.
Both founders, Nicola Withycombe & Steph Fattorini worked together for almost a decade delivering the Cafcass SPIP (Separated Parent Information Programme) training to parents directed by the Family Courts at many London family mediation services & Relate.
Listening to the voices of so many brave children and distressed parents who were struggling to deal with family breakdown, they recognised the desperate lack of support accessible to separating parents and the lack of early intervention options available in order to help parents avoid adversarial court proceedings. Our Kids Come First® visual training program was developed in 2015 with a vision to make a difference for families across the UK.
Kids Come First® are Resolution members, a community of family justice professionals working with families and individuals to resolve issues in a constructive way.
Our People
Nicola is a professional adult trainer who has been working with separated parents since 2010. She is co-author of the Kids Come First SPP (Separated Parenting Programme) and the KCF handbook ‘For Kids Sake!’. She regularly contributes media articles on all matters concerning separation and divorce, offering valuable insights into family law & the UK family court system. As an avid researcher she also enjoys studying the psychology of relationships and the philosophy of emotions.
Nicola trained as a civil and commercial mediator (Member of Society of Mediators) and is also co-founder of The Co-Parenting Clinic, an innovative family law service helping separated parents agree their childcare arrangements without the need for costly and adversarial family court proceedings.
“I’m passionate about communication and using negotiation skills to defuse parental conflict on behalf of children! By delivering person-centred support and bespoke, child-focused guidance to separated parents, we can encourage new perspectives on dealing with the challenges of separation.”
Steph is an accredited BACP therapist working with children, adolescents, parents, adults & couples at her private practice in SW London. She has worked with children since 2005 and has extensive experience working at a mediation service dealing with parents who are separating & divorcing. Providing a calm, safe and empathic space, she seeks to increase her clients self-awareness & self esteem, boosting confidence and helping them understand past influences.
“I use a wholesome and organic approach tailored to the needs of all our clients”
For more information about Steph please visit her private practice website: http://sftherapylondon.com
Polly, our ‘pawsonal’ assistant, is far too lazy to respond to emails or run any office errands! Oh well…it’s a dog’s life!