First Steps Nutrition Trust is an independent public health nutrition charity. We endeavour to fill practical and policy-relevant information gaps and provide resources for health workers supporting eating well from pre-conception to five years.

 Our Mission

• To influence policies which enable the safe, appropriate and optimal feeding of infants and young children in the UK, and to protect them from commercial interest.

• To ensure that the importance of good nutrition from pre-conception to age five remains on everyone’s agenda.

• To provide conflict of interest-free information on infant milks marketed in the UK, and to promote better regulation and marketing of breastmilk substitutes.

• To provide resources for health workers to support them in their work with pregnant women and young families.

Our Resources:

• Are put together by nutrition experts and are regularly updated.

• Can be used in Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accredited settings.

• Are available as free pdf downloads for use by anyone promoting better public health on a not-for profit basis.

Everyone who works at First Steps Nutrition Trust feels passionately about the need for better information and support for good nutrition – and good food – from pre-conception to five years. 

First Steps Nutrition Trust is supported by generous individual donations and conflict of interest free grants. First Steps Nutrition Trust does not work with organisations or individuals that work with, or take funding from, the breastmilk substitute industry and we reserve the right not to sell them our subsidised resources.

First Steps works with and supports a number of organisations including Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative, the Baby Feeding Law Group, the Obesity Health Alliance, the Children’s Food Campaign and the APPG on Infant Feeding and Inequalities.

First Steps Nutrition Trust host and regularly update their partner site infantmilkinfo.org which contains comprehensive information about infant milks (for 0-12 month olds) available on the UK market.

Testimonials

Dr Vicky Sibson

DIRECTOR

Vicky is a Public Health Nutritionist with an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD from University College London. She started off her career in the humanitarian world and worked for several international NGOs both overseas and as a head office adviser for over a decade, during which time she gained a particular interest in infant and young child nutrition. Vicky joined First Steps Nutrition Trust shortly after having her first baby and keen to bring her international experience to bear in the UK. She has been the charity’s Director since 2021 and is passionate about leading its small but mighty team in its vision to ensure all young children in the UK eat well from the start of life. 

vicky@firststepsnutrition.org

Dr Katie Pereira-Kotze

Senior Nutritionist

Katie is a dietitian by training and has worked in the field of public health nutrition since 2005. She has a PhD in Public Health from the University of the Western Cape and a Master’s in Nutrition from the University of Stellenbosch. Katie has worked in government, research, and academia, and has a special interest in advocating for the protection, promotion, and support of optimal maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. Katie relocated from South Africa to the UK in 2020 and joined First Steps Nutrition Trust in 2022, where she has a particular focus on supporting implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.  

Rachel Childs

senior NUTRITIONIST

Rachel is a registered Public Health Nutritionist with an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a PGCE from University College London. She has worked on maternal and infant nutrition for international NGOs for a number of years, and has a special interest in understanding and overcoming barriers to optimal nutrition for children in different contexts. Rachel joined First Steps Nutrition Trust having spent some time teaching primary school children in the UK and experiencing first-hand the need for policy and practices that benefit all children through equitable access to nutritionally appropriate diets. She has worked as a Nutritionist for the charity since 2022 and is passionate about using robust evidence to inform practice.

Jasmine Brand-Williamson

NUTRITION OFFICER

Jasmine is a registered Nutritionist with an MSc in Human Nutrition from the University of Glasgow where she specialised in Public Health. She is passionate about communications and presenting scientific research in an accessible and engaging way. Since completing her undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of St Andrews in 2017, she worked in marketing and communications and developed an interest in food security and its intersection with public health. For her MSc research project, she focused on commercial foods aimed at children under 36 months. This sparked an interest in maternal and infant nutrition and practices, and the policies which underpin them. As such, she is keen to contribute to the meaningful work of First Steps Nutrition Trust.

Priscilla Mountford

Administrator

As an anthropology graduate, Priscilla was drawn to the cross-cultural work of charities and has spent the best part of two decades providing fundraising and communications support in the sector. A keen cook, she is passionate about food security and handles our administrative duties, such as updating our websites, handling payroll and accounting, and sending out our newsletter every month.

Rob Percival

Rob Percival works as Head of Food Policy for the Soil Association, leading the organisation’s advocacy and influencing in support of healthy and sustainable diets. For the past decade he has worked closely with the Soil Association’s Food for Life programme, improving the food served in schools and hospitals, and he leads the organisation’s policy and campaigns on ultra-processed foods. He is also the author of ‘The Meat Paradox’, a book published in 2022 which explores the complexity of the meat debate.

Dr Vicky Thomas

Dr Vicky Thomas is a consultant paediatrician at the Great North Children's Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. A generalist at heart, she has a portfolio of interests including childhood nutrition, infant sleep, child protection, and supporting parents with normal baby behaviour. She sits on the scientific committee of the Lullaby Trust, is a professional adviser to La Leche League and works with a number of other voluntary organisations supporting families.

Marjon Willers

Marjon Willers is the specialist dietitian for schools and early years in Islington, where she works as part of the health and wellbeing team supporting schools and early years to develop a health promoting environment and adopt healthy food provision. Marjon is also a co-director of the Health Education Trust, the charity which developed the School Nutrition Action Groups and is a national partner of Food for Life supporting the whole school approach, food policy, consultation and engagement.

Dr Marko Kerac

Dr Marko Kerac is a clinical associate professor and programme director for the ‘Nutrition for Global Health’ MSc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Initially trained in paediatrics, he did his PhD based in Malawi before finishing specialty training in public health in London. His research focuses on severe malnutrition in infants and children. He particularly enjoys the challenges of GRIPP (Getting Research into Policy/Practice): working in multidisciplinary groups from the very start of a project to together identify high-priority problems and develop practical (and thus hopefully scalable!) solutions.

Ellen Dicicco

Ellen Dicicco is a Health Visitor, Infant Feeding Practitioner and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant working in Lancashire and South Cumbria. She has a longstanding interest in the factors that influence family diets and focused on this for her MSc. Alongside her clinical work a large part of her role as Infant Feeding Practitioner is the continuing education of staff and the maintenance and progression of the UNICEF Baby Friendly Gold Accreditation.

Gabrielle Owtram

Gabrielle Owtram is a seasoned professional with a 20-year background in public health nutrition, having played a key role in shaping key policy initiatives such as front-of-pack labelling, nutrient profiling, and food reformulation. She has directed strategic communications for nutrition and dietary health policy at the Food Standards Agency, headed Commercial Partnerships at the Department of Health and Social Care, and led policy delivery efforts at Public Health England on reduction and reformulation of sugar, calories, salt and commercial baby food, establishing a globally recognized program for transparent public reporting on food industry progress. Currently, Gabrielle serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the Leasehold Advisory Service. In this role, she continues to demonstrate her commitment to consumer interests by championing free, expert legal advice.

Dr Helen Crawley

Dr Helen Crawley founded First Steps Nutrition Trust in 2011 and was the charity’s Director until 2021. A dietitian and public health nutritionist with over 30 years’ experience in public health nutrition across government, academia, research and the charitable sector, she created First Steps with the purpose of providing clear, evidence-based and conflict of interest free information and resources on eating well in the early years.

Helen was previously the Science Director for Caroline Walker Trust, where she wrote national guidance for food in schools and early years settings. She also held an honorary research fellow post at City University London, sat on the WHO scientific and technical working group on inappropriate marketing of foods to infants and children, the CODEX e-working group on standards for follow-up formula, the NICE panel on maternal and child nutrition and the Unicef Baby Friendly UK designation committee. Helen also sat on the UK Food Poverty Alliance, the London Food Board, chaired the London Boroughs Food Group and sat on the Healthy Early Years London strategy group.

Having dedicated 10 years of her illustrious career to developing First Steps Nutrition Trust in to what it is today, Helen stepped down in 2021 to pursue other projects.