I remember the day I started this petition, it was a Friday afternoon. What I remember most was how I felt. I got a chill down my spine and goosebumps down my arms, because I knew something was about to change forever and my first thought was ‘WE CAN DO THIS’. Beyond that feeling, I had no clue about what would follow.
By the Monday morning we had hit 88,000 signatures. By the time I went to Parliament to meet the Select Committee to give evidence on Universal Credit and Childcare, and hand my letter and petition to former Secretary of State Esther McVey, we had 95,878 signatures. When the Parliamentary report on Universal Credit: Childcare was published in December in which I am named and my story is the 1st Case Study, we had over 100,000 signatures.
A good friend of mine sent me an article yesterday, taken from The Big Issue magazine. The entire magazine was devoted to the ‘TOP 100 Change Makers, Thinkers, Agitators changing the World in 2019’. The reason she sent me a screen grab was because I was number 17 in that Top 100 list.
The part that struck me the most from The Big Issue write up was it mentioned this petition and said, “.... It’s well on its way to getting the number of signatures required to get it debated in Parliament”.
We are so close to VICTORY. The current Secretary of State RT Hon Amber Rudd, mentioned that parents MIGHT NOT have to pay upfront childcare costs in her speech last week.
Let’s turn that MIGHT into a WON’T, let’s guarantee we get our day in Parliament and have Childcare under Universal Credit DEBATED.
As I have said from day one, I can ONLY do that with ALL YOUR SUPPORT. “Together we can achieve, what I can not achieve alone”.
‘WE CAN DO IT” and more than EVER we need more SIGNATURES to get to our 200,000+ mile stone. Please continue to SIGN and SHARE this petition and our COLLECTIVE achievements.
More than ever WE NEED to make our local MPs aware of the situation, and gain their support in our battle to ENSURING EVERY CHILD in the UK has ACCESS to EARLY YEARS EDUCATION & CHILDCARE. THAT EVERY PARENT THAT WANTS TO WORK CAN DO SO!
Lets show them what we’re REALLY Made of.
Thuto x
#MumOnAMission #MakeChildcareWork