Childcare Challenge
Reaching all children and families
“…. Kids are the most important thing for our future”- Sefton parent
“
If the government could get us back to work full time it would be
better for the country, so the government do have a responsibility to
provide childcare”- Sefton parent
“I’m a lone parent. I’ve got four children. I’d love to go out to work but financially there’s no chance”- Sefton parent
“ What we need is an extended family of childcare”- Cornwall parent
“This
place is a godsend to me. I think I would literally go mad if I had
them with me in the house all the time”- Greenwich parent talking about
local training with a crèche.
About the project
The
Childcare Challenge team have been working since September 2002 to
highlight childcare barriers for disadvantaged families who live
outside the areas that receive Government funding for childcare.
Raising voices
The
project’s campaigning work is based on what parents, children and young
people in Greenwich, Cornwall, Middlesbrough and Sefton told us about
the difficulties they faced in getting childcare, out of school and
youth club provision, during a consultation which took place between
March and July 2003
‘Talking About Childcare’, the report on
this consultation, was launched in May and has been widely distributed
to politicians, Early Years departments, Jobcentre Plus and many of the
parents who helped with the project. Download a copy of
Talking About Childcare.
Postcard Campaign
Did
you send a postcard to Chancellor Gordon Brown asking him to pledge to
quality affordable childcare that suits you and your family?
The
Childcare Challenge postcard campaign has been a great success, with
thousands of cards getting back to the Treasury offices. The pledges on
the postcard were taken directly from what parents told us about their
childcare needs.
Childwise
Check
out ‘Childwise’, Daycare Trust’s free quarterly magazine for parents.
The summer 2004 edition has the Childcare Challenge as its theme and
gives you advice about what you can do to have your say about childcare
services.
What happens now?
Childcare
is now at the top of the Government’s agenda and the parents who have
given us their views have helped to put it there.
The Childcare
Challenge project finishes at the end of August 2004 but the work is
not over yet. You can make your voice heard as part of Daycare Trust’s
continuing campaign for affordable, quality childcare for all families
who want it.
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