The Princess of Wales is ‘excited’ by progress of early years project. Photo / AP
The Princess of Wales is ‘excited’ by progress of early years project. Photo / AP
The Princess of Wales is “excited” by the progress of her project to convince businesses to support Britain’s youngest children.
The princess, who has been out of the public eye this year due to ill health, has been kept up to date about the work of her Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood, with a new report published this week.
The report suggests that prioritising young children and supporting their caregivers could lead to “£45.5 billion (NZ$94.6b) in value added for the British economy each year”, it is the culmination of a year’s work inspired by the princess.
Its release is said to be a “crucial moment” for her early years project, which is said to be “rolling on as she recovers”.
A spokesman for the princess emphasised that the publication of the report does not mean that the princess is returning to work, with her Centre for Early Childhood running without her while she undergoes preventative chemotherapy and recovers at home.
But the topic remains a “huge priority” for the princess, who has been “kept fully updated throughout the development of the Taskforce’s work” and has seen the report, the spokesman said.
The Princess meets children from two local nurseries during a visit to The Ark Open Farm in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. The visit was part of her Early Years Foundation Survey. Photo / Getty Images
Christian Guy, executive director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said: “I know that she [the Princess of Wales] is keen to encourage all businesses, no matter what their size or purpose, to join us on this journey and is looking forward to seeing momentum grow in the coming months.”
Sir Ron Kalifa, chairman of The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood, said the princess’ goal, when launching the business taskforce last year, was to “create a bridge” between research into the importance of early years and the “wider business community, whose resources, reach and influence can be such a driving force for positive change”.
“This is not for purely altruistic reasons,” he writes in the report. “Investing in early childhood and supporting those caring for babies and very young children will ultimately lead to commercial benefit and have a positive impact on both profit and future growth – the core tenets of business.”
The taskforce, established in March 2023, is made up of Aviva, The Co-operative Group, Deloitte, Iceland Foods, IKEA UK and Ireland, The LEGO Group, NatWest Group and Unilever UK.
The report, produced by Deloitte on behalf of the Taskforce, found the national economy could benefit some £12.2b ($25.4b) from “equipping people with improved social and emotional skills in early childhood”, £16.1b ($33.5b) from “reducing the need to spend public funds on remedial steps for adverse childhood experiences” and £17.2b ($35.8b) from “supporting parents and caregivers of under-fives”.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. Photo / Kensington Palace
The businesses, said Guy, are now “endorsing the Princess’s prioritisation of early childhood, echoing her words, and joining her movement”.
“I know, having briefed the princess on this, that she is enormously grateful to the members of the Taskforce who have made such fantastic progress on this work over the past year,” he said.
“She feels passionately about the transformational impact of getting this right together, both for the current generation and for many more to come.”
He added that the princess is “excited” by the report and the support of businesses. Her Shaping Us project last year was about raising awareness, he said, “but what for her is so important is action”.
“To have eight significant businesses in Britain making the case to their fellow business leaders is exciting for her. And it’s a priority going forward for our centre and her work.”
The report is intended as a “blueprint” for businesses of all sizes and functions, to lay the foundations for making small changes to improve opportunities for parents, carers and children in society.
Princess Kate and children from two local nurseries have an encounter with a snake during a visit to The Ark Open Farm. Photo / Getty Images
Its five recommendations are to be translated into practical action that suits an individual business. Examples range from businesses not scheduling calls before 9am, to allow working parents to complete the nursery or school run undisturbed, to subsidised or on site childcare, and adding family-friendly food labelling to ensure healthy choices.
They are grouped into themes of “building a culture that prioritises early childhood”, greater support for working parents, “nurturing social and emotional skills in young children and the adults in their lives”, supporting projects to improve education and childcare, and making sure all families can access basic supplies.
The release of the report will be accompanied by a new business-focused area on The Centre for Early Childhood’s website containing practical information and resources.
Each of the taskforce members has also committed to early years-related projects, including The Co-operative Group committing to raise £5 million ($10.4m) over the next five years to create more than 600 apprenticeships.
Deloitte will support 366 early years professionals in 2024 through the Teach First programme, the LEGO Group will donate 3000 “Emotions” building sets to nurseries, and Iceland Foods is adding “emoji posters” to help young children communicate in stores.
Sir Ron added: “This is not easy. Businesses face many challenges and have multiple competing priorities. But the incentives for them are made clear here.
“I know the Princess is grateful to the founding members of the Taskforce for their leadership and commitment to this issue and for setting out so clearly the unique role our nation’s businesses could play as part of the modern-day ‘village’ it takes to raise a child.”
