Open letter to Kate Middleton – Part Five

A campaign to benefit ALL children with no exceptions

[For readers in other countries, Kate Middleton is part of the English royal family and has launched the ‘Shaping Us Campaign’ to create national public awareness of the critical importance of a child’s first five years.Contact: 'Centre for Early Childhood' This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ]

 

Dear Kate Middleton,

I hope there will soon be a progress report on your Shaping Us campaign. I look forward to it. Perhaps by now you have made contact with parents, practitioners and senior managers around pre-school children who have significant challenges to their development and learning.

I am sure some of these people will have told you about the great value of Sure Start centres. From what I know of Shaping Us, it seems possible that Sure Start offers you a ready-made foundation for this important work you have undertaken. Perhaps you will not have to change the model very much.

These people might also have told you that Sure Start is not a priority for our government so many centres have had to close down and, probably, there are no funds for opening new ones. This is a tragedy for children and families – the same children and families you are wanting to reach.

I was going to say that millions of pounds are needed to revive Sure Start as a base for the Shaping Us campaign, but in fact, it would be more accurate to say billions – taking into account the grand scale of your ambitions. Dare I suggest that as Shaping Us is a royal initiative, those billions might not be too hard to find.

This is my last open letter to you for the time being. I shall wait for news of your developments. I expect there are very many parents, practitioners and senior manager contacting you to tell you about Sure Start.

With respect and all good wishes

Peter Limbrick