17/01/2026
Over the past few months, it has been a pleasure to work with partners across the early years, education and childcare sector to plan and deliver a town centre Early Years, Education and Childcare Recruitment Fair.
This event was held on Wednesday 14/01/2026 at the Market Place, Bolton.
The aim was simple but important:
✅ raise awareness of early years, education and childcare careers
✅ showcase training, apprenticeship and childminding routes
✅ support recruitment and retention across the sector
Through strong partnership working, targeted engagement with colleges and communities, and the commitment of local employers, training providers, Jobcentre Plus and local authority colleagues the event came together brilliantly.
On the day, we welcomed over 116 attendees, with very positive feedback from both exhibitors and the public. Attendees had the opportunity to speak directly with employers, explore career pathways, attend workshops to support CV writing, completing application forms, and interview techniques, view live vacancies and ask questions about moving into the sector and progression routes.
At a time when the sector continues to face a significant recruitment and retention challenge, it was reassuring to see such enthusiasm to join the workforce.
Feedback clearly shows there is a real appetite for events like this to continue, and we’re already seeing interest in training, apprenticeships, employment and childminding as a result.
A huge thank you to all the early years, education and childcare providers, employers, training partners, Jobcentre Plus, colleges, Market Place and local authority colleagues who helped make this happen. This really demonstrated what can be achieved through collaboration to support our early years, education and childcare workforce.
