Campaigning for Better Childcare

Parent Champions for Better Childcare is a project supporting parent led campaigns that advocate for better childcare on a local and national level.

The system isn’t working because it doesn’t focus on families’ real life needs – for example, parents who want to start childcare are often blocked because they can’t pay deposits before they start to earn, and some after school clubs have to be booked a full term in advance, even though needs may change week to week with other family commitments. Everyone in London could benefit if these problems were addressed, but for this to happen parents’ voices need to be heard through effective local and national campaigning. At the moment, too many families are struggling alone.

How does it work?

Parent Champions for Better Childcare focused on training and supporting parents to identify the issues with childcare that matter to them and campaign for better services.

After completing a research stage, the project supported five groups campaigning on topics from improving information provision about childcare for children with SEND to improving the quality of staff training in settings.

Not only does the project provide valuable personal development opportunities for parents and make a positive impact in the local community, it can also have lasting benefits for local services and decision makers, by helping them work with the campaign groups, promoting parent led change and making sure systems and services work for families.

I joined the group because I am passionate and want to help and support parents in a similar situation and I want to make a difference. I have enjoyed conducting research and sharing the results with the local authority. I’ve learnt how to present to the relevant people in order to get the right message across. Being a part of the campaign group is an effective way to make change happen because we are representing a voice for all parents of children in need and we want to make a positive and improved difference in where the information needs to be shared
Parent campaigner
By meeting the campaign group it gave us a great insight into the actual experiences parents have faced and continue to face when they are searching for information or support. By working with the campaign group we gained a great insight into the gaps in our services.
Family Information Services Officer, Brent

Parent Champions for Better Childcare was developed and delivered with support from

 

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Parent Champions National Network

Completed projects