By Anne Longfield, chief executive of Kids' Clubs Network This June's National Sure Start Month is recognition from the highest level that childcare is essential if children are to have the best start in life and if parents are to work and take up training. The Month, along with Kids' Clubs Week (23 - 27 June), gives us all a unique opportunity to celebrate the workers, children and parents involved within family support and childcare services. More importantly, it is a crucial time to raise awareness amongst families about the variety of childcare and help that's available to them.
Accessible and affordable childcare is at the heart of policies aimed at tackling poverty and investing in children. By ensuring parents are aware of the best services available to them in their area, and also the benefits they can claim to assist with cost, we can enable their children to develop and prosper.
Of course, increasing awareness and provision work hand in hand - and we must recognise that raising expectations will in turn increase demand.
Kids' clubs are opening at a rate of 20 per cent more a year yet waiting lists continue to grow, with 25 per cent of clubs now having a waiting list. Although there has been a major increase in provision as a result of Government support, 86 per cent of parents are still in need of more out-of-school childcare places.
With too many parents still saying that they don't know what is available in their area, events like National Sure Start Month and Kids' Clubs Week are vital. Ensuring that parents can afford childcare places once they are found is also crucial. The priority now is to continue raising the profile of services alongside the current rate of expansion while at the same time offering more subsidised childcare places in areas of disadvantage.
