Create better starts and brighter futures with Children’s Alliance.
Many people don’t realise the profound impact a child’s first five years can have on their lifelong physical and mental well-being. Today, our young people face long-term health challenges due to inadequate physical activity, rising mental health issues, poor nutritional knowledge, and low self-esteem.
We aim to change that.
Children’s Alliance is the charitable foundation of Water Babies. It brings together a coalition of likeminded organisations, with each one willing to provide various resources to help us reach our goals of better starts and brighter futures for children.
Our Goal
We’re dedicated to ensuring every child gets the best start in life. We approach our goal from two directions through our community work and campaign activity.
Community Initiatives:
We support children by providing them with access to water activities, including swimming lessons, transportation to classes, swimwear, and water play equipment. Our goal is to positively affect 10,000 lives by 2030.
Advocacy Efforts:
We strive to place children and youth at the center of government policy-making. We advocate for the establishment of a Cabinet Minister or a Department for Children, Young People, and Families.
By working together, we aim to highlight the significance of investing in our children and fostering forward-thinking, resilient generations.
Our Values
Our values guide us in achieving our key goals, driving our mission to improve children’s lives. They inspire and remind us of our purpose.
COMMUNITY: We’re in this together.
FOCUS: Children are at the heart of all we do.
ACTION: We seek to educate, inspire, and act for change.
Community Activity
Through our community efforts, we aim to give children and young people a better start in life through water-related activities.
Supporting communities is at the core of what we do. We offer grants to directly impact children’s health and well-being. Charities across the UK can apply for a Children’s Alliance grant by providing details about their project and its connection to water.
Here’s a few examples of community initiatives we’ve supported so far:
We Are Beams: This organisation supports disabled children and their families. We’ve provided £6,000 in grants for swimming lessons for children with special needs and water-based play sessions for babies and toddlers.
Dame Vera Lynn Charity: Supporting young children with cerebral palsy and motor learning impairments, they’ve received £3,000 in grants for ongoing hydrotherapy sessions for severely disabled children.
Access Sport: By focusing on the causes of exclusion and tackling access barriers, they make inclusion the norm for disadvantaged and disabled young people. The charity has received £30,000 in grants to provide over 400 swimming lessons as part of their inclusive initiatives.
FEAR: Specialising in providing wetsuits for children recovering from cancer, they have received a grant of £9,000
Campaign Activity
To truly place children and young people at the heart of policy making, we need a Cabinet Minister in Westminster or a dedicated Department for Children, Young People, and Families in the Government. We believe our campaign efforts can help achieve this goal.
Our mission is to help children and young people thrive by raising awareness about the issues they face and providing solutions with evidence-based recommendations.
We accomplish this through active working groups composed of a range of relevant experts. Currently, we have six working groups who collaborate to write evidence-based papers, lobby the Government, and identify outcomes within specific areas impacting children. These groups are:
- Physical Activity – Focusing on inclusion in sport
- Early Years – Emphasising the importance of free play
- Food and Nutrition – Advocating for free school meals for all children
- Emotional Health – Pushing for a mental health expert in every secondary school
- Artificial Intelligence – Aiming to improve parental awareness of AI
- Poverty – Reviewing current systems to address child poverty
Become a Member
By joining the Children’s Alliance, you have the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded professionals dedicated to supporting children and young people.
The membership experience is diverse and far-reaching. We welcome a variety of viewpoints, supported by professional experience and evidence. This approach enables us to create, discuss, and analyse key recommendations to inform policies for current and future government departments.
Membership is free.
Join a working group: Participate in bi-monthly meetings and become part of our active WhatsApp groups.
Spread the word: Help raise awareness about the Children’s Alliance and support selected campaigns.
Attend the yearly conference.
Access specialists: Gain insights from experts in our working groups.
We’re always looking forward and welcoming new members to join the Children’s Alliance. To find out more, apply for grant funding, join a working group, or learn more about how you can get involved, please visit https://childrensalliance.org.uk/
We can’t wait to welcome you to Children’s Alliance, to help create better starts and brighter futures for all children.
