Bringing Our Work into Your School

Supporting mental health and wellbeing for children and young people.

Eating Disorders in Young People: What You Need to Know

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that can affect anyone, but they often begin during childhood or the teenage years.

  • Around 1 in 5 young women and 1 in 10 young men aged 16–24 have experienced an eating disorder (Royal College of Psychiatrists).
  • In England, hospital admissions for eating disorders in under-18s have more than doubled over the past decade (NHS Digital).
  • The biggest increase has been in teenage girls aged 13–16, but eating disorders can affect all ages, genders, and backgrounds.

There’s no single cause. Eating disorders can be linked to:

  • Low self-esteem or perfectionism
  • Bullying or trauma
  • Social media pressure and unrealistic body standards
  • Difficulties at school or home

Often, it’s a mix of emotional, social, and biological factors. But no matter the cause, early support makes a real difference.

What is Support in Schools?

At First Steps ED, we work in partnership with schools to provide specialist support, education, and guidance around eating disorders, body image, and emotional wellbeing.

Whether you’re a pupil, parent, teacher, or school leader, we’re here to:

  • Raise awareness and break the stigma
  • Support early intervention through workshops and resources
  • Create safer spaces to talk about food, feelings, and mental health

Our school programmes are designed to help pupils, staff, and families better understand eating difficulties and how to support those affected. We offer:

  • Age-appropriate workshops for primary, secondary, and post-16 students
  • CPD-accredited training for teachers and school staff
  • Resources and signposting for parents and carers
  • Opportunities for fundraising and awareness campaigns throughout the year

Whether you’re looking for a one-off workshop or want to build an ongoing relationship with a mental health and eating disorder charity, we’re here to help.

How does our Support in Schools work?

We tailor every session and partnership to suit the unique needs of your school and your pupils. We’ll work with you to:

  • Understand your priorities and pupil needs
  • Select or co-design relevant sessions and activities
  • Provide experienced facilitators from across our Children and Young People (CYP) team
  • Follow up with useful resources, support tools and opportunities for further engagement

Our workshops and training can be delivered in person or virtually, depending on your preference and location.

Who is our Support in Schools suitable for? 

Our services are suitable for:

  • Primary schools: age-appropriate, gentle exploration of self-esteem, emotional wellbeing, and body image
  • Secondary schools: more in-depth workshops addressing body image, social media, eating disorders, and self-esteem
  • Teachers and school staff: professional training to support early identification and student wellbeing
  • Parents and carers: information and resources to support loved ones at home

Whether you’re a SENCO, PSHE lead, pastoral manager or classroom teacher, our team will work with you to support your pupils effectively.

HUGE thanks to you and your team for coming to Repton today. The workshop was excellent and pitched at just the right level. It was also thought-provoking and provided a very useful platform for discussion. It was very good to have a combination of pupil interaction, explanation and video. Thank you so much for all the work that had gone into preparing it – it really was much appreciated.

Staff Member, Repton School

We offer a flexible pricing model to ensure accessibility for all schools. Costs vary depending on:

  • The number and length of sessions
  • Whether delivery is in person or online
  • Travel requirements

Typically, our Body Image and Self Esteem workshop costs £195 per session. We are always happy to discuss bespoke packages or explore funding support where available.

You can find out whether our service is funded or private by contacting us. Call us: 0300 1021685|info@firststepsed.co.uk

Our Schools Workshops can be delivered in-person or online, depending on location and what works best for you.

Tailored to your needs

Every school is different, so we work with you to tailor our support to your pupils, timetable and priorities.

Appropriate for all age groups

We offer sensitive, age-appropriate content for both primary and secondary schools.

Topics include: body image, self-esteem, eating difficulties, and general mental health and wellbeing.

Trusted by schools

We’ve worked with a wide range of schools across the Midlands and beyond.

We’re a charity

All fees help us continue our work supporting children, young people and families affected by eating disorders.

Next steps

If you’re find out more please contact us on 0300 1021685 or info@firststepsed.co.uk.

Don’t worry if you’re not yet ready to work with us in a one-to-one setting, take a look at our online self-guided resource that you can work through in your own time.

“My Specialist Support Officer has been absolutely brilliant. He has been incredibly supportive and has helped me through some very testing times. He has given me multiple, useful, and sustainable strategies to help combat my eating disorder. I’d like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for everything he has done for me.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“This service has made an incredible difference to my recovery. The management report that I received was fantastic, and it gave me a space to speak openly, honestly, and freely. Honestly, the experience has changed my life, and I am incredibly grateful for the support that I have received from First Steps.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“I don’t find myself ruminating on things anymore, which is fantastic. Thank you for all of your help, I find myself going back to our conversations whenever I need to remind myself of what’s really important. You really helped me a lot and I feel my quality of life is so much better because of it, I’m confident you are doing the same for others too.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“It’s a valuable resource for support in a comfortable, non pressurising environment, giving me something to come away with, advice to think about and apply into practice.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“It made me realise that other people are experiencing the same as me which made me feel not alone and seeing others also try to recover motivated me to do the same.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“I really like how people interact in the chat and I am able to relate to things other people are struggling with. It makes me feel less alone.”

Service User, First Steps ED

“I thoroughly enjoy the sessions and find them extremely helpful – it makes me feel less alone in all of this.”

Service User, First Steps ED
“It’s provided a constant reminder and push to keep being active in recovery and it makes me feel less alone when I’m struggling.”
Service User, First Steps ED