Welcome to my journal.
Get an insight into my day-to-day work and my perspective on key issues.
‘Everything I've Learnt, I Learnt on the Street’: Ten Years Learning from Sesame
Last week in New York I attended what was my final in-person board meeting as a Trustee and Board Director of Sesame Workshop, the creators of Sesame Street.
When my term concludes later this year, I will have served the maximum ten years on the Board and, as I sat around the board table for the last time, I found myself reflecting less on the meetings, papers and governance responsibilities, and more on what an extraordinary privilege it has been to witness close-up the work of an organisation whose mission is simple, profound and urgently needed: to help kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder. And what a difference it makes to millions of children's lives.
From Report to Movement: One Year On from Everything to Play For
One year ago, on the International Day of Play, the Raising the Nation Play Commission published its final report, Everything to Play For: A Plan to Ensure Every Child in England Can Play. It is HERE.
When we launched the report in June 2025, our ambition was simple: to put play back on the national agenda.
We argued that play is not an optional extra in childhood. It is fundamental to children’s health, wellbeing, development, learning and happiness. We made ten recommendations organised around three themes: stronger political leadership, cultural change and a rights-based approach to play.
A year later, not all ten recommendations have been implemented. Yet.
But perhaps that is not the most important story.
The most important story is that play has moved from the margins towards the mainstream.
And in doing so, a report has helped become part of a movement.
A London for Every Child: Why this new report matters
London has always been a city of opportunity. For generations, people have come to London to study, to work, to build businesses and to experience the extraordinary diversity and energy that makes the capital one of the world’s great cities. But a question now sits quietly at the heart of London’s future: Is London still a city where families can afford to stay and raise children?
A new report from the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee — A London for Every Child: Reversing the City’s Declining Child Population — suggests the answer is becoming increasingly uncertain.
‘Hope starts young. How Labour should use the power of play to tell its story of opportunity’
This article was first published on Labour List on 4th February 2026. HERE
Play is not just “nice to have”, it is fundamental to children’s health, happiness, learning and life chances. This was the simple message of my year-long Raising the Nation Play Commission, and in its final report Everything to Play For – England needs to get its children playing again.
The Raising The Nation Play Commission - Six Months in….
First published on the Raising the Nation Play Commission website 3 February 2025. HERE
Incredibly, we are already into the second half of our year-long Raising the Nation Play Commission. Time is flying by, but we’ve already packed so much in, including…
Where have all the childhoods gone?
Anne Longfield CBE and I wrote this article about how play has disappeared from childhoods, and why it is critical to reverse the trend - citing the Raising the Nation Play Commission that we launched in June 2024 as our commitment to see the change we demand is delivered.
How our next government can deliver a manifesto for children
In this article -written during the 2024 General Election campaign, I reflect on what an incoming government could do for children over 10 weeks, 10 months and 10 years.
Launching the ‘Raising the Nation’ Play Commission
Politicians should ask how our children can thrive: how they can feel significant, be confident, have life affirming childhoods and become the people that they each have the potential to be.
Because thriving childhoods reflect thriving societies, and as play is central to thriving childhoods, it should be central to political decision-making. The way children explore, experiment and build an understanding of the world really matters.
Why investment in Public Service Children’s Media is so is vital - especially now.
High quality British children’s content will become scarce and could become extinct. Parents, politicians and producers all have a role to play here – but all need to step up before it’s too late. As well as our great tradition of making high quality British media for children, we risk losing our heritage of growing new producers and writers. Once the traditional, regulated broadcasters and their budgets are no longer being found by children, who will pay for this vital element of our children’s nourishment?
Innovation in the world of Children's Services
Summary of my keynote talk delivered to Coram Innovation Incubator, 2nd February 2024
