Working for the awarding body CACHE, PLMR led the campaign that saw the Department for Education reverse its policy around educator standards in early years settings.

PLMR was brought in in 2016, 18 months after the policy had been introduced, and by March 2017, our campaign had led to a Government U-turn. Our strategy was to form a coalition of cross-sector supporters to back the campaign pre-launch, from individual nurseries to key bodies including the National Day Nurseries Association, the London Early Years Foundation, and the Pre-school Learning Alliance. Together we highlighted how early years settings had been drastically short-staffed since the policy had been introduced.

Grass-roots supporters were mobilised through a strong campaign of traditional PR, a central website and engaging social media to bring the issue to the top of the agenda before directly lobbying Department for Education Ministers and senior officials. As momentum continued to build Childcare Minister Caroline Dinenage announced that Functional Skills would be re-instated as an equivalent qualification for Level 3 Early Years Educators and the campaign was won.

The PRWeek Awards ceremony, in its 30th year, will take place on Wednesday, 18 October 2017.