The advert in The Times newspaper ran with with the headline, 'An open letter to all parents and carers with young children', on 5 December.
More than 360 childcare providers including standalone nurseries, nursery groups, childminders and pre-schools donated money to pay for the advert. Individual donations ranged from £25 to £100 plus.
In the advert (see below), the group of providers urge parents to be cautious about political parties’ extended childcare offers when voting in Thursday’s general election.
Behind the advert is Tom Shea, director of Child First nurseries, who also runs early years resource company Fafunia; Jo Morris-Golds, owner of Playsteps Day Nursery and spokesperson for Champagne Nurseries on Lemonade Funding (CNLF); Tina Knight, owner of Wells House Kindergarten and co-founder of Kidunk children’s clothing, and the founder and CEO of Kids Allowed nursery group Jennie Johnson.
Mr Shea told Nursery World they decided to pay for an advert in a national newspaper rather than send a letter for publication to be certain that it would be published and where it would be published.
The advert makes reference to Ofsted figures showing that 500 childcare settings closed every month between April 2018 and March 2019, which the group of providers say has left thousands of children and their parents without appropriate or adequate facilities and that the settings struggling the most are those in the deprived areas.
It states, ‘While we of course understand the appeal to families of “free” childcare offers, the overly complicated legislation and insufficient funding rates are crippling providers, as we are forced to choose between swallowing losses or cross-subsiding in attempts to remain viable.
‘Expanding the availability of “free” childcare may make for vote grabbing headlines, but extending a failing system in a misleading attempt to win over the electorate, will not end well for anyone.
‘Children are our focus and you as parents are our biggest allies. So please consider all of this when reading those manifesto pledges because quite simply, Government funded childcare is not “free”.’
Those behind the advert have also launched a new website, We Care About Children, to continue campaigning.
Jennie Johnson, owner of Kids Allowed, said, ‘Childcare has become a political football. The government are the largest customer of our precious sector and when your largest customer wants to double their commitment, we should be excited. But our largest customer is a bully that doesn’t listen and is not paying a fair rate for our service meaning that the sector, especially in areas of deprivation is no longer viable and if we are not listened to and taken seriously many more children and families will find their providers closing down.
‘In many respects Kids Allowed are fine, our nurseries are not in areas of deprivation, but this is a fight for all children and as a Salford girl, I am passionate about children from all backgrounds getting equal chances to thrive. Until we are provided proper funding, the gap between children born into poverty will continue to widen and that is a scandal and needs us to stand together and shout from the rooftops about until we are listened to.’