About Helm

Built from a belief that care could be different.

Helm began with a belief that complexity should invite greater understanding, not greater judgement - and that with the right care, relationships and support, a difficult past does not have to determine what comes next.

Where it began

Helm's founders.

Helm wasn't created from a single moment or a carefully mapped out plan. It grew from two very different lives, shaped by different experiences, but connected by the same passion - to look beyond what is in front of us, to question whether things could be better, and to believe in what people might become when somebody takes the time to understand them.

Rachel's story

“You'll never understand.”
Rachel's journey into care began somewhere unexpected. She was working as a hairdresser when someone close to her needed care. Concerned by what she was seeing, Rachel questioned the support they were receiving. She was met with a response that stayed with her: she didn't work in care, she couldn't possibly understand.
That conversation changed the direction of her life. Rachel went on to study Mental Health Nursing and built a career across mental health and children's services, questioning practice when it didn't feel right and looking beyond diagnosis, risk or presentation to understand the person.
What she found challenged many of the assumptions surrounding them. She enjoyed being with them. She got to know them as people - their humour, personalities, strengths and hopes - rather than simply through the difficulties that had brought them into services. With the right support around them, she watched children and young adults who could so easily have been defined by their past begin to build futures of their own: careers, relationships, families, homes and lives that once may have seemed out of reach.
It reinforced a belief that would eventually become fundamental to Helm - a person's most difficult moments should never become the limit of what we believe is possible for them.

Fitri's story

“I see potential in people.”
Fitri's journey to Helm followed a very different path. Long before children's care became part of her life, she held a belief that would follow her throughout: our lives should add value to the lives of others.
At around ten years old, Fitri would go to the hospital after school to care for her aunt, sometimes sleeping underneath the hospital bed so she could stay close and be there whenever her aunt needed her. She didn’t have words like “purpose” back then; she simply knew that someone she loved needed looking after.
Her career took her through administration, operations, banking, local government, pensions, education and mentoring. Across these roles, she was driven by a desire to solve problems, improve how things worked and, above all, recognise potential in people and help them develop.
That same instinct led her to volunteering in emergency response teams and supporting people experiencing homelessness. Over time, she realised that there was something meaningful in seeing somebody recognise what they were capable of, like gaining a qualification, building a career, finding confidence, owning a home or creating a different future for their family.
That belief would eventually sit at the heart of Helm - sometimes changing the world begins with changing the world for one person.
And then they met
Rachel understood the care that complex children needed. Fitri knew how to build, develop and bring ideas to life. What they shared was a belief that things could be done differently. They wanted to create more than somewhere for a child to live. They wanted to create a service where children who had often been misunderstood were properly understood, cared for and given the chance to see what might be possible for them.
That was the beginning of Helm.

What we believe

Some things should be different.

Helm was built around some simple beliefs about what children's care should look like. They still guide the decisions we make, the way we support our teams and the care we provide today.

Therapeutic - Standard

We believe children living in residential care should have access to therapeutic understanding and support as standard. Getting the right care around a child earlier can help build the foundations for greater stability, stronger relationships and a future requiring less intensive support.

Clinical - Present

Clinical support works best when it is close to the child. Our clinical team is embedded within our homes rather than sitting separately from them. They spend time alongside children and teams, helping make sense of what is happening and turning clinical understanding into everyday care.

Complexity - Welcome

Complexity shouldn't leave a child without somewhere to call home. Children with significant trauma, mental health needs and risk can be some of the hardest to find the right home for. We believe they deserve care, understanding and adults prepared to keep thinking when things become difficult.

Teams - Equipped

Therapeutic care depends on the adults providing it. We invest heavily in training, reflective practice, clinical guidance and development so our teams aren't simply told what to do - they're helped to understand the child, think about their responses and grow in confidence and skill.

Advocacy - Essential

Every child deserves people who will stand up for what they need. Sometimes that means asking difficult questions or challenging decisions and expectations. We will advocate for children when we believe their needs, experiences or best interests are being lost along the way.

Care - Consistent

We don't give up when things get difficult. There will be difficult days, setbacks, and challenge. We stay alongside the child, keep trying to understand and find another way through. Our support is intentionally intensive, because a child needs people willing to keep going with them.
Not perfection. Possibility.

A note from our founders

What matters to us.

When we started Helm, we knew the kind of care we wanted to create, but we also knew we wouldn't always get everything right. This work is difficult, and sometimes the children who need us most are the ones for whom there are no easy answers.
What matters to us is that we keep trying to understand. That we don't give up when things become difficult, that we are willing to question ourselves and the systems around us, and that the children in our care are surrounded by people who continue to believe in them, even when they might struggle to believe in themselves.
We want Helm to be somewhere children are known for who they are, not simply for what has happened to them or the risks around them. Somewhere our teams feel supported to learn, think differently and become better at what they do.
There is still plenty we want to learn and plenty we want Helm to become. But the reason we started remains the same - to give children the care, understanding and opportunity they need to build a future that feels like their own.
Rachel & Fitrix