Our thanks to Tricia Pritchard MBE – for services to childcare and early years

Today’s blog is an interview with Tricia Pritchard, the founder of the British Association for Professional Nannies, and her 30 plus years of dedication to childcare services.

“Having been the only trade union rep in the UK representing the interests of nannies, and for more than three decades, I left Voice the Union in August 2018.

Before I move on to what I’ve been doing since, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share with you a few of what I’ll call my highlights:

I went to work for PANN (Professional Association of Nursery Nurses) in 1986.  It was just after the miners’ strike.  For the youngsters among us, the miners’ strike was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the NUM (National Union of Miners) and opposed strongly by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The NUM was divided over the action and many mineworkers, especially in the East Midlands, worked through the dispute.  Violent confrontations between flying pickets and police characterised the year-long strike, which ended in victory for the government and allowed the closure of most of Britain’s collieries. It was the most bitter industrial dispute in British history.  At its height, the strike involved 142,000 mineworkers.  I’m telling you this because I can remember genning up on this for my interview.  There was no Google at the time so the only resources available were newspapers and the local library.

My first job with PANN was as an Admin Assistant and by the time PANN became a Section of PAT (Professional Association of Teachers) in 1995 I’d worked my way up to Assistant General Secretary.  I was TUPE’d across to PAT and became the first non-teacher Professional Officer for the union.

Over the years I must have supported many hundreds, if not thousands of nannies across the UK – I still get calls today from nannies who say, “you represented me over 20 years ago”, or “we met at a conference in 1992”.  I may not remember their particular case but it’s lovely when they remember me and tell me how I helped them through a difficult time.

I haven’t just done casework.  In fact, it’s the non-casework part of my job that I’ve found the most fascinating and that stretched me most.

Following intense media coverage of a particular case, I was interviewed by Fox News and CNN, took part in a subsequent Panorama special, two Channel4 documentaries and appeared on Australia TV Channel 7.  I was interviewed by several newspapers in the UK and the US, appeared on the front page of the Times and contributed to a double page spread in the News of the World.   PANN quickly became the recognised go to association on all things Nanny.

After the case, and with the help of a few MPs and several high-profile childcare and early years experts, I launched the Playpen Campaign at the House of Commons.  The campaign later became the well-known and well-respected Regulation Matters Campaign – the campaign for nanny registration and the regulation of nanny agencies.

I think it was around 1992 when I joined a group of teachers and nursery workers on a ten-day Early Years Fact Finding visit to Russia.  We visited kindergartens in Moscow, Nursery Schools in Leningrad and, as it was then, Pskov.  Fascinating and a visit I shall never forget.

In 2003 by invitation, I joined a European Consortium to develop a childcare management qualification that would be recognised across Europe, piloted in Liverpool following research carried out by Liverpool Hope University which had identified a gap in management training at degree level.

Devised and introduced by the European Enhancement of Early Years Management Skills (EEEYMS), the project was mainly funded by the European Union Leonardo da Vinci programme.  Essentially it was a partnership involving childcare associations, trade unions and educational establishments across Europe. These include the NDNA and PANN in the UK, the public-sector trade union KTV in Finland, Avans University in the Netherlands, and two Bulgarian partners, Virtech and the Bulgarian Telework Association.  Meetings were hosted by partners and I got to travel to Finland, Holland and Bulgaria.  I visited early years establishments and met some amazing people who I’ve remained friends with.

I’ve been in No. 10 and Buckingham Palace. I’ve met four Prime Ministers, several Ministers and MPs.  I’ve been interviewed by Dermot Murnaghan, Eamon Holmes, Richard and Judy, the lovely Jill Dando and many more – all in pursuit of raising the profile of professional nannies and the need for safe, registered, home childcare.

I had an amazing career with PANN/PAT/Voice.  I’ve worked with some fantastic people, both as colleagues and representatives, from other external organisations.  This was recognised when I was awarded the ‘Outstanding Contribution, Highly Commended’ Nursery World Award in 2016, having been nominated by the Chiltern Nursery & Training College, the world-famous Norland College, and Morton Michel, the UK’s leading childcare insurance specialist.  I’d been on one hell of a journey, and it didn’t stop there.

After leaving Voice I took over BAPN (British Association for Professional Nannies).  BAPN was in decline, it had very few members, no credible member benefits, and although it was run by a small number of well-meaning volunteers, there was no structure to the business which had no identity, and it wasn’t clear what its aims and objectives were – how was it going to help nannies in employment. I set about transforming the association and I did this by surrounding myself with highly respected professionals from within the nanny sector.  By building close professional relationships with business leaders such as Harmony at Home, Morton Michel, Nannytax to name a few, BAPN was soon gaining a reputation for being the membership association of choice for UK based nannies.  We collaborated with the best in the sector, and this enabled us to gain access for our members to an unrivalled number of member benefits and resources.  We were the only nanny specific association offering professional advice and personal representation when things went wrong for our nanny members at work.

My proudest achievements when running BAPN are:

• I persuaded Nursery World to add Professional Nannies to their acclaimed Nursery World Awards. BAPN sponsored the Nursery World Professional Nanny of the Year Award for three years.
• We created and sponsored the first ever Professional Nannyhub, the largest interactive, front of house hub, including theatre, at the Nursery World Show, Business Design Centre, London. For the first time, nannies were introduced as fellow professionals to the wider childcare and early years sector.

Sadly, in 2021, Covid had taken hold and had a devastating impact on BAPN and our plans in support of nannies, it had also taken its toll on my own mental health and wellbeing, and so I made the difficult decision to close BAPN.

Fast forward to now.

I received an MBE for services to childcare and early years in the King’s New Year Honours 2024, and early this month I had my Investiture at Windsor Castle where I was presented with my award by HRH Anne, Princess Royal.  What an honour and in no small part thanks to all the wonderful nannies I’ve worked with, along with the many nanny related companies who have been so generous in their support over the years. To them all I shall be eternally grateful.  Coming at the end of my career too – what a joy.”

What a journey indeed, we congratulate Tricia on her amazing achievements and the award of an MBE!