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Our Charity & History

Steps was started in 1994 by four families who realised the benefits gained by their children from Conductive Education.

The families wanted to make Conductive Education available to other families locally and set up the Charnwood School for Parents (as Steps was originally known) in Leicestershire.

Conductive Education (CE) was developed in the 1940s in Hungary, at what became known as the “Pető Institute”.  After travelling there with their children, the families wanted to be able to make CE available  without the expense and disruption of travelling long distances to other centres or the huge cost of going to Hungary.

Steps has achieved impressive results since 1994. From a tiny group renting a single nursery room in Ashmount Special School and working with five local families, Steps, with its team of staff and volunteers, now provides an array of professional services to more than 50 families. Their feedback testifies to the difference that Steps has made to their children’s lives and to the wellbeing and happiness of the whole family.

Achievements to date have been made possible by almost entirely voluntary fundraising activities by founder President, Dr Heather Crate, Steps Patron and Trustee, Rosemary Conley CBE DL, and the efforts of other Trustees and a large and growing number of Steps supporters, including staff, volunteers, local families and supporters. This activity has also engaged the support of major donors such as UPS, Caterpillar, Primary Care Trusts and charitable trusts such as Henry Smith’s charity, The National Lottery, BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief. Following the raising of over £250,000 in 2006 for the purchase of premises in Shepshed, Leicestershire, a major programme of refurbishment in 2007, supported by ITV Central News, attracted 130 local companies to supply £550,000 worth of goods and services free of charge.

Get in touch

Please contact Natalie our Centre Manager on 01509 506878 for more information.

Navigating the Covid Pandemic in 2020 presented some unique challenges, and once again Steps were able to rise to the occasion. The team quickly set to work to implement digital sessions so that they could continue supporting the children and families whilst the world locked down. A wonderful positive that came out of this was that Steps can now open up their digital service nationwide and are now able to support many more families. We will continue to offer both face to face sessions alongside continuing our digital sessions.

Now, building on 30+ year’s experience, Steps is embarking on an ambitious programme to improve and extend its range of services to enable more children and their families to benefit from Conductive Education.