I was fortunate to have visited Downing Street before, but it remains a special place. What was memorable were the many people across the sector who were saying, “Who would have thought that we would be at No. 10 and the Chancellor of Exchequer would pledge his personal support to developing services for the early years?” It is indeed remarkable that, at long last, the government spotlight is on children and families – and organisations like the Alliance can take credit for creating these opportunities.

Over 40 years ago, it was certainly not the case that government was involved or arguably that interested. Then, the absence of services and support led to the creation of the Alliance and the formation of the unique bond and partnership that exists between parents and the charity. And over the years, the Alliance has led the way in defining how parents can be supported as the main educators of their children. This special edition of Children First, with its many articles featuring practical advice for parents, draws attention to the excellent quality of work being carried out by the Alliance.

In many ways, we have changed a lot over the last 40 years. Today, we support over 800,000 children and families a year, and we have 40,000 volunteers and 2,700 staff to deliver that support. However, what doesn't change is our commitment to ensuring the genuine involvement of parents in the vitally important task of bringing up their children. The articles you will read here, I believe, are proof of this and show how the Alliance is an organisation that provides help and support in partnership with parents.

Steve Alexander
Chief Executive
Pre-school Learning Alliance