Put children at the heart of the recovery

We joined 150+ organisations calling on the Government to put children at the heart of the recovery process. Our joint statement to the Prime Minister is detailed below, followed by a full list of the 150+ signatories.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widespread, affecting the lives of every baby, child and young person in the country. This generation of children face unprecedented threats to their childhoods and life chances. They deserve an unprecedented response.

We call on the Prime Minister to announce that children will join health and the economy as the three pillars of the government’s coronavirus response.

Even before the onset of the crisis, child poverty was rising, school budgets were under pressure, waiting lists for mental health services were unacceptably long, and services supporting families and protecting children from abuse and neglect were at breaking point, stretched by rising need and reduced government funding.

Now, they are also a generation over which COVID-19 threatens to cast its shadow for years to come. Our children are in an eerie world, full of uncertainty. They do not know when they can go back to school. They worry about when they can see friends and family. They are anxious about family finances.

We know this uncertainty and worry will lead to anxiety and mental health problems. We know closed schools will damage the educational attainment and life chances of children – the poorest, the most. We know Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities will be hit the hardest. We know there is no certainty about when the crisis will end and when we can see loved ones again. We know there is more financial hardship to come.

We are calling on the Government to embrace a new vision of childhood to support children, young people and their families to recover from the impact of COVID-19. The voices of children, young people and families must be at the heart of the recovery and rebuild process, and there must be renewed investment in the services and workforce that they rely on.

The Budget should be the start of a rescue, recovery and rebuild plan designed to prioritise, support and enable our children to thrive. We need an ambitious, radical plan that will be transformational for the generation of children growing up in today’s modern Britain.

That will mean action and investment across Whitehall and in town halls, including: funding for early help services and public health; supporting innovation and integrated working, particularly with charities; dedicated financial support for children; support for early years settings and schools so attainment gains are protected; and unprecedented investment in children’s mental health. This must be accompanied by a commitment to protect children facing additional challenges, like those with disabilities, asylum seekers, abuse victims and those from minority communities.

We will continue to play our part. In the weeks ahead, many of us will share with ministers and officials the key elements needed for such a recovery plan.

The government, understandably, has so far focused on the immediate health and economic consequences.

It’s now time for the nation to put a strong, protective arm around its children, to stop childhoods being disrupted and life chances being derailed.

The Statement was coordinated by Action for Children, Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC and The Children’s Society.

LIST OF SIGNATORIES:

4in10: London Child Poverty Network

Achievement for All

Action for Children

Adfam

Afasic

Alström Syndrome UK

Amaze

Ambitious about Autism

Anna Freud Centre

Approachable Parenting

Association of Mental Health Providers

Association of Play Industries’

Association of Primary Mental Health Work and Training CAMHS

Association of School and College Leaders

ATD Fourth World

Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile

Barnardo's

Batten Disease Family Association

Become

Beyond

BF Adventure

Body & Soul

Bounce Forward

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

Buttle UK

Caritas Care

Catch22

Centre for Research in Early Childhood

Chailey Heritage Foundation

Challengers

Child Poverty Action Group

Child Protection in Education

Childhood Bereavement Network

Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition

Children England

Children North East

Children’s Rights Alliance for England

CLIC Sargent

Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies

Coram

CoramBAAF

Daniel's Den

Early Education

Early Years Alliance

Elevate Startup CIC

Enthusiasm

Escape Intervention Services

Fair For You

Family Action

Family Fund

Family Links

Family Rights Group

First 1001 Days Movement

FNF

Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities

Fragile X Society

Freedom from Torture

Girlguiding

Grandparents Plus

Home-Start Hampshire

Home-Start UK

I CAN

Include Me Too

Independent Children's Homes Association

Jigsaw4u

Jubilee Debt Campaign

Julia's House

Just for Kids Law

Kidscape

Leap Confronting Conflict

Mental Health First Aid England

METRO Charity

Mind

Montessori St. Nicholas

MumsAid

NAPLIC

NASS

NASUWT

National Children's Bureau

National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA)

National Development Team for Inclusion

National Family Mediation

National Youth Advocacy Service

Nepacs

NSPCC

One Education Ltd.

OnePlusOne

Ormiston Families

Our Time

Parent-Infant Foundation

Partnership for Children

Partnership for Young London

Pecan

Peeple

PSHE Association

RACC UK

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity;

Redthread

Rett UK

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

SAPHNA

Savana

Save the Children

Scottish Out of School Care Network

Sea Cadets

SEND Community Alliance

Sense

Social Workers Union

Speakers Collective

Special Needs Jungle

Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK

Spurgeons

Standing Committee for Youth Justice

stem4

Step Up To Serve / #iwill

StreetDoctors

Sue Pattison Consulting

Support Staffordshire

Swings & Smiles

TACT Fostering

TACTYC

Team Mental Health

The Association of Child Psychotherapists

The British Academy of Childhood Disability

The British Psychological Society

The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust

The Childhood Trust

The Children's Society

The Children's Trust

The Dorset Children's Foundation

The Equality Trust

The Fawcett Society

The Fostering Network

The Health Conditions in School Alliance

The Matthew Elvidge Trust

The Mighty Creatives

The Mulberry Bush

The Sleep Charity

The Sleep Council

Think2Speak

Together for Short Lives

Together Trust

Triple P UK

Unicef UK

Way Ahead

WellChild

Winston's Wish

Young Epilepsy

YoungMinds

Youth Access

Youth Practitioners' Association