Gemma’s Little Friends - New

To receive messages like this, mean the absolute world to us but saying goodbye to our little friends is never easy 🥺🥺🥰🥰

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone at Gemma’s little friends for everything you’ve done for **** over the last two years.

It’s quite emotional thinking about how much he has grown and changed since he first started, and you have all played such a big part in that.

We’re so grateful for all the care, patience, support and kindness you’ve shown him. Knowing that he has been somewhere he feels happy, safe and cared for has meant so much to us.

You’ve helped him learn, grow in confidence, make friends and become the little boy he is today, and we really can’t thank you enough for that.

I know looking after children every day isn’t always easy, but the effort and care you all put in really does make such a difference—not just to the children, but to us as parents too.

**** is going to miss you all so much.

Thank you for giving him such a lovely start, for all the memories you’ve helped create, and for everything you’ve done for him over the last two years.

We’ll always be incredibly grateful to you all. Thank you so much.

We are so fortunate to have such lovely open spaces right on our door step. Within a couple of minutes of walking we are able to access a great playing field and a wonderful forest school environment. Over the summer we have enjoyed many days out in this open space, making the most of the beautiful summer weather. So much fun with our friends 🌞

And our Little Friends are absolutely worth it 🩷💚

Following a youth football tournament that had taken place on our village field, the children had noticed so much litter had been left behind 😢 we often talk to the children about the importance of putting rubbish in the bin and not throwing it on the floor. We talk to them about the danger to wildlife if we dont put the litter in the bin, so when we noticed so much rubbish in the bushes and on the field we felt it was very important to clean it up. Today 2 of our little friends, together with Courtney, spent a long time walking around the field collecting the litter. We are very proud to have collected a whole bag of rubbish and disposed of it in the bin. Well done my little friends 🧡

Today has all been about getting behind our national football team 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽️
We've been busy making England flags and hats. We've been dancing and singing to 'It's coming home' and having so much fun along the way with all our friends. Come on England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

📊 Childminders

The number of childminders in England fell by 39% between 2018 and 2025, from 36,500 to 22,300.

In 2024–25 alone, 1,640 childminders joined the register while 2,640 left, resulting in a net loss of around 1,000 childminders (4%) in just one year.

Since 2009, the number of registered childminders has fallen from around 60,000 to just under 25,000, representing a loss of well over half the profession over that period.

🏡 Nursery and provider closures

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) recorded:
216 nursery closures during 2023–24.
199 further nursery closures between September 2023 and September 2024.
They estimated these closures affected more than 10,000 children.

Overall, 7,240 childcare providers left the sector in 2024–25 while 5,980 joined, giving a net loss of 1,270 providers. Most of this decline was due to the continued loss of childminders.

📈 Demand is increasing

Around 1.7 million children were registered for government-funded childcare entitlements in 2025, an increase of more than 400,000 children compared with the previous year. And yet, settings are closing.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that, after taking providers' actual costs into account, the core funding for 3- and 4-year-olds in 2025/26 was around 19% lower in real terms than a decade earlier

The DfEs analysis showed the average provider received £1.01 from every £1.00 of funding. This is before costs such as insurance, wages etc.

The private sector needs your support!

Parents can have their say in the CMA investigation the government opened against the private sector for childcare.

Parents – your voice matters!

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently carrying out a review of early years education and childcare in England, and they want to hear from families as well as providers.

Whether your experience has been positive or challenging, this is your opportunity to share your views on childcare availability, affordability, funding and how the system works for your family.

If you'd like to have your say, you can submit your views directly to the CMA here:

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/early-years-education-and-childcare-market-study

Every response helps build a clearer picture of what families and providers are experiencing. Together, we can help shape a fairer future for childcare.

Early years education and childcare market study The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a market study into early years education and childcare services in England.

While I’ve been stuck inside doing the least favourite part of my job (boring paperwork!), the ‘maintenance team’ have been hard at work clearing the moss, leaves and twigs from the cabin roof. Great job Team Friend. The garden is all spruced up and ready for another week at Gemma’s Little Friends 💪💪

For the past week we've been constantly asked 'How are you coping in this heat?', 'Are the children struggling in the extreme weather?', 'What are you doing to keep cool?'
Here is a little look at how we have survived the crazy temperatures we've experienced over the past few days............. And of course the air conditioning inside the cabin has been a life saver 🥵

New staff uniform 🤣 what do you think??