In brief...National winners of the Champion Childminders 2000 competition

The two national winners of the Champion Childminders 2000 competition are Patricia Heard from Essex, who won the category of a childminder who has been registered for more than five years, and Joanne Cole from Stockton-on-Tees, in the category of a childminder registered for less than five years. Lynne Daley, chair of the National Childminding Association, which organised the competition, said, 'The judges had a difficult task in picking two winners from the 21 regional finalists, there was such a high standard.' The judging panel were NCMA vice-president David Lane, Anne Hunter-Love, managing director of competition sponsor Jackel International, Helen...