Literacy news

Two new appointments to lead the National Literacy Trust’s Talk To Your Baby campaign

3 Dec 2010

The National Literacy Trust has announced the appointment of Clare Bolton and Cathy Hamer as the new managers of our Talk To Your Baby campaign.

Clare and Cathy will carry on the work of the previous manager, Liz Attenborough, who first developed the campaign at the charity in 2003.

Talk To Your Baby encourages parents and carers to talk more to their children from birth to three years. Talking and listening to young children helps them to develop the language and communication skills that are vital for a fulfilling, happy and successful life.

Clare Bolton has 14 years’ marketing and PR experience. Her previous roles included Marketing Director for News International's Revolver.com, Head of Marketing for the Telegraph online and Head of Consumer Marketing at Microsoft’s Windows Live.  Most recently she has been working on a media start-up involving parenting organisations and experts in the fields of child development and education.

Dr Cathy Hamer is an early years teacher, health and educational psychologist who was involved with Sure Start from the outset. Cathy wrote the local authority strategic guidance paper for Talk To Your Baby and managed the innovative Face to Face project, which aimed to identify key messages for parents and carers about communicating with babies and young children. This project will inform the strategy for the forthcoming 2011 National Year of Communication, as well as future Talk To Your Baby work.

It is expected that the National Year of Communication campaign, named Hello, will see increased awareness of the communication needs of our youngsters among Government, professionals and the general public. As one of the over 35 voluntary and community organisations that make up the Communication Trust consortium responsible for delivering the National Year, the campaign will be very important for the National Literacy Trust and its Talk To Your Baby campaign.

Director of the National Literacy Trust Jonathan Douglas says:

“Too many children in the UK are entering nursery and school with inadequate language and communication skills. Many may not have had enough opportunities to develop their communication skills as babies and toddlers and ultimately, they can remain at a disadvantage compared with those who grow up in language-rich homes. This is why we are thrilled to have both Clare and Cathy on board to carry on Talk To Your Baby’s excellent work to raise the profile of early years communication and the lasting effect it can have on a child’s life.” 

Read the full media release here.

Tags: Early Years, Early years sector, Talk To Your Baby

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