P & G grant to get kids talking
Howard Lake | 30 June 2006 | Newswire
Pre-school children in North Tyneside will benefit from a new programme of I CAN training for early years professionals made possible thanks to a major grant from Procter & Gamble.
The £2,500 grant from P&G’s fund with the Community Foundation will help I CAN, the charity that helps children communicate, to deliver training for 135 North Tyneside Local Education Authority staff to help them support children’s communication development during the crucial early years.
The specialist training is part of Early Talk, I CAN’s pioneering UK-wide programme which will develop the communication skills of all pre-school children. Early Talk also includes ongoing consultancy, testing and accreditation, monitoring and assistance.
Andrew Graydon, P&G’s Community Matters coordinator at its Newcastle Technical Centre in Longbenton, said: Communication is really important for young children and the support I CAN gives to children and parents in North Tyneside through its Early Talk programme is terrific. I’m delighted we can give support through our Community Foundation fund and help to equip so many staff with the skills to impact young lives.â€
Kate Bradley of the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland said The P&G Fund is very important for the Community Foundation and we are very grateful for its support. Since 1995 it has awarded over £600,000 to voluntary and community groups across Tyneside and Northumberland. This grant is a great example of how P&G is helping children and young people to live, learn and thrive in our region.â€
Clare Geldard, I CAN’s Head of Early Years and Partnership Services, said: The need for Early Talk has never been more pressing. Communication is the foundation for all children’s learning and social development. Between the ages of 3-4 a child’s speech and language skills need to have developed sufficiently for them to be able to cope at school, to communicate with other pupils and teachers, listen and understand what is said to them and respond – so they can learn and make friends.
Recently the Basic Skills Agency raised new concerns about declining standards of children’s communication skills. I CAN is working hard to forge partnerships with statutory bodies such as North Tyneside, build on the excellent work they are already undertaking, and together meet the communication needs of all pre-school children. This vital grant will help us implement the Early Talk programme at North Tyneside to support the development of children in the area and we can’t thank Procter & Gamble enough.â€
Early Talk will help pre-school children develop the communication skills they need by:
1. Ensuring communication-supportive learning environments for all children
2. Securing effective early intervention for children with speech, language and communication disabilities in inclusive settings
3. Providing advisory support and information for parents
4. Delivering structured professional development, information and advisory support for early years’ practitioners in partnership with children’s services
5. Making a significant impact on meeting the needs of children with mild to moderate speech and language difficulties, thus enabling local therapy services to focus resources elsewhere;
6. Taking whole cohorts of children with severe and complex communication disabilities off NHS speech and language therapy waiting lists by meeting their therapeutic and educational needs in a single inclusive service; providing a rewarding working environment with enhanced job satisfaction for professionals in national shortage specialties.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.