Princess of Wales launches new early childhood campaign

Launched today (Tuesday 31 January), ‘Shaping Us’ is a new long-term campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. It is spearheaded by The Princess of Wales with support from a range of high-profile figures.

Under the campaign, a short film is being released highlighting how babies and children develop in response to their earliest experiences.

The 90-second Claymation film shows how a little girl named Layla develops from pregnancy to age five and how she is shaped by her interactions with the people and environment around her. The short film will appear on Piccadilly Lights at Piccadilly Circus and will be screened in cinemas across the UK from Friday.

Ahead of the launch, The Prince and Princess of Wales attended a pre-campaign event at BAFTA yesterday. On the weekend, the Princess also published an open letter about the new campaign.

The campaign comes as new research into public understanding of child development by the Centre for Early Childhood shows that around one in three (36 per cent) adults report knowing ‘just a little’ or ‘nothing’ about how the subject.

To mark the launch, the Princess will visit the city of Leeds which has the ambition to be the best place in the UK for children and young people to grow up in. She will meet students on the Childhood Studies programme at the University of Leeds and join a lecture on the ‘Psychological approaches to understanding and supporting children’s learning’.

Kate Middleton will also visit the city’s iconic Kirkgate Market where she will meet vendors and members of the public to discuss early childhood.

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales said, ‘The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships, and surroundings during our early childhood, fundamentally shapes our whole lives. It affects everything from our ability to form relationships and thrive at work, to our mental and physical well-being as adults and the way we parent our own children.

‘These are the most preventative years. By focusing our collective time, energy, and resources to build a supportive, nurturing world around the youngest members of our society and those caring for them, we can make a huge difference to the health and happiness of generations to come.

‘All of society has a role to play in this, even if you are not directly involved in a child’s life, because we are all responsible for building a more compassionate world in which our children can grow, learn and live.

‘In these difficult times, it is more important than ever to help support parents and caregivers provide loving, safe and secure homes for their babies and young children to thrive.’

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘The Princess of Wales has been a committed and powerful advocate for the importance of early years so it is fantastic to see the Royal Foundation continue this work with a campaign aimed at raising the profile of our crucial sector.

‘The first five years count when it comes to children’s future opportunities but we know that only one in five adults appreciate the vital development that happens before children even start school. This campaign gives us all the opportunity to shout about the difference that investing in children’s early years can make.'

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, commented, ‘We welcome The Princess of Wales for her unwavering commitment and dedication to raising awareness of the importance of the early years. 

‘As this campaign shows, the first five years of a child’s life is absolutely pivotal to their future development and life chances, and the role of early education in this is crucial.

‘As such, we hope that the next stage of The Princess’ campaign will prompt conversation – and more importantly, action – from both society and Government when it comes to valuing the early years sector and the importance of early childhood.’