Owners of a Holyhead nursery and the head of Valley Community School both went to Downing Street this week with myself for the Community Childcare Champions Reception.
I nominated Sue and Alex McGinn, the owners of Newry Nursery and Juniors in Boston Road, for their work and because of Sue’s involvement in developing a youth hub in Holyhead.
Also going through the famous black door on Tuesday was Iolo Evans who leads Ysgol Gymuned Y Fali. He recently brought his pupils to Westminster for a workshop and tour and was also nominated by myself.
The reception – hosted by children’s minister David Johnston - honoured champions from across the country who have helped give ‘every child the best start in life’.
Mother and daughter team Sue and Alex said: “we were 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰u𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯.
“𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 10 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦. 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘗 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”
Iolo said: “I was truly grateful for being nominated for this. Meeting up with Virginia in Parliament with the school children a fortnight ago was a pleasure and a fantastic opportunity. To be able to meet up again in 10 Downing Street was a chance in a lifetime.
“Visiting the iconic Number 10 and knocking on that famous door, the experience was amazing and it was so nice to receive such hospitality, as well as meeting up with many other people from all over the country who had also been nominated.
“A huge thank you to Virginia for arranging this.”
I was delighted to bring these dedicated education champions to London to visit Downing Street and be honoured for the brilliant work they do giving every child the best start in life.
I love going to these events and seeing our islanders get the recognition they deserve for the amazing work they do in our communities. It is humbling and good fun too.
