I’m excited for the Children’s Booker prize ❤️. It will be very helpful to me as a parent to get ideas for books my kids will enjoy www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Love’s Labour by Stephen Grosz (published last month) is my new favourite book! Beautifully written, full of empathy, amazing human stories & so much wisdom and life experience ❤️ I would recommend it to anyone, particularly if you enjoy reading about psychoanalysis www.penguin.co.uk/books/420372...

The London where I was born and grew up is a place that is stronger for its diversity. Cities bring people from all kinds of backgrounds into close proximity and that can help foster curiosity, open-mindedness and shared respect. That is my London, not the far-right march happening today 😔

Today is international left handers day. My six year old is very excited about this 👋❤️

We have just launched a new call for evidence @nestauk.bsky.social 💥We’ll be carrying out a rapid critical appraisal to identify programmes that support parenting and the home learning environment that have robust evidence of impact on child outcomes. More info here www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

If you’re seeing reports of famine in Gaza and feeling really powerless, here is a fundraising effort to respond to this crisis: The Sameer Project chuffed.org/project/1132... I’ve just donated and hope some more children will be fed as a result 🙏 So painful seeing what’s happening

Thank you @eleanorire.bsky.social it was great to hear your thoughts on this important topic. I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation about building a shared research agenda

Join us tomorrow for our event! www.nesta.org.uk/event/how-ca...

Children growing up in our country deserve the best start in life. Building on the legacy of Sure Start, we’re opening Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority. That’s the difference Labour makes. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Such fantastic news that the Government will be funding family hubs in every local authority in England www.theguardian.com/society/2025... Evaluation of Sure Start has shown family support in the early years supports better long-term outcomes for children, so this is such an important investment

Evidence shows that parenting programmes have a positive impact on babies and young children's development - but they're not reaching enough families. Today, we're publishing new research on the market for parenting interventions, based on our analysis of 135 programmes across the UK ⤵️

To make gains on early childhood development, we need to start with parents www.cypnow.co.uk/content/blog...

Today we launch our @nestauk.bsky.social report ‘Parenting Support at Scale: Market Analysis’. We find that parenting support is a really effective strategy for supporting child development. But we need to fund the most effective programmes and we need more of it! www.nesta.org.uk/report/paren...

Scaling effective and accessible parenting programmes will be key for improving child development outcomes - one of the government's key priorities. Join us Wed 9 July for a lunchtime webinar sharing insights from three online parenting programmes. Register to attend: bit.ly/4n5cd5n

Yesterday @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social ‬announced a new healthy food standard. It’s about small changes rather than big, unsustainable shifts - like two-for-one offers on baked rather than fried crisps. Read more about the policy from Nesta’s Hugo Harper: www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-hea...

New report 📢 To find out more about how Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs work, we commissioned @tcru-ucl.bsky.social and @newcastleuni.bsky.social to carry out an evaluation of MASH - with funding from DfE 🔎 Read the report: foundations.org.uk/our-work/publications/multi-agency-safeguarding-hubs/

In my strength class yesterday, my coach said “how was that? are you going to add any more?” I said “I don’t know, that felt pretty heavy.” 🏋️‍♂️ The woman next to me said “It’s MEANT to be heavy, that’s the whole point!” lol 🤦‍♀️

We have a brilliant, free online webinar coming up: What does it take to make online parenting programmes work for families? Weds 9th July, 12-1pm We’ll be joined by Eloise Stevens from the University of Cambridge and Eleni Bloy from the Race Equality Foundation www.nesta.org.uk/event/what-d...

I washed my hands in the toilets at Fever Ray concert at Brixton Academy in 2010… next to Björk 😍

My 5 year old son used the word “yesternight” earlier. And I thought yes, that really ought to be a word. Sounds like it came straight out of a Romantic poem

UNICEF UK calls for more #HealthVisitors in hard-hitting report on child health inequalities which shows impact of deprivation on babies and young children across England. The Government must act now to break the links between deprivation and early outcomes ihv.org.uk/news-and-vie... #HealthVisiting

My daughter (9yo) had a friend for a sleepover last night. She just told me they were up past 11 playing poker 😂♠️♦️♣️♥️

So great to see this policy - half a million more children entitled to free school meals. This will help a lot of families www.gov.uk/government/n...

Thank you @ncb.org.uk for bringing the sector together to call on the Prime Minister to demonstrate his commitment to the early years in this spending review

Exciting news @nestauk.bsky.social Challenge Works has announced its Good Start Challenge. A €2.6 million global challenge to advance solutions that improve wellbeing of parents&carers in underserved communities. Entries open until 17.09.2025 challengeworks.org/challenge-prizes/good-start-challenge/

So proud of this innovative work by Nesta - designing and delivering the Visit a Heat Pump service so that home owners can see a heat pump in action

Could seeing a heat pump in action encourage more homeowners to make the switch? Last year, we launched Visit a Heat Pump to connect the heat-pump curious with local heat pump owners. A year on, it's seen 1000+ bookings with 90% of visitors recommending the service. Find out more:

This is great to read about! Congratulations to everyone in Bradford working on this initiative www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

NEW: Sure Start generated widespread, long-lasting benefits for children in education, health, absences, and SEND. Every £1 of up-front spending on Sure Start could generate around £2 in total benefits over the long run. THREAD on our new ‪@nuffieldfoundation.org‬-funded report: [1/11]

Integrated early years services saved the Government £2 for every £1 spent. Important evidence that investing in the early years has long-term benefits for children and for wider society www.theguardian.com/education/20...

💭 @juliangrenier.bsky.social explores what effective professional development looks like in the early years. 👓 Read the blog: eef.li/g53bVb

Great to see this report from @booktrust.org.uk setting out 5 focus areas to turn the tide on reading inequality

Journalists - want to write something sensible about what might happen in the budget? Use the @nestauk.bsky.social & IFS "Be the Chancellor" tool and see what might be needed...

Love this from the wonderful Michael Rosen ❤️ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There are some key public services which are clearly a priority for lower-income families. They are particularly concerned about GP services, adult social care, justice and schools relative to high-income households. Read more ➡️ buff.ly/JnYYIG9

Google tells me that previously there were around 2.2% tariffs on many goods entering USA (diff tariffs applied to diff products). So ‘additional 10% tariffs’ for UK may mean total tariff will be 12.2% on many things? News reporting is so vague, it’s hard to piece together…

>9000 downloads in < 3 weeks, now available in Arabic and Chinese. With a foreward written by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social Download your free copy and find out why #PlayMatters t.co/KXx8gC8SKH

New practice guide from Foundations on mentoring and befriending care experienced children launched today!

We have a great online event coming up on 24th April, showcasing our team’s brilliant work on A Fairer Start Local in collaboration with Leeds, Stockport and York local authorities. Free to sign up here: www.nesta.org.uk/event/a-fair....

Funding for the DfE’s school-based nursery programme has doubled - but concerns remain around staffing & whether the govt money pot will be enough to create high-quality early years provision 👇 www.tes.com/magazine/new...

I'd like to tell you a story about a scientist you may not have heard of, but who shaped a lot of modern health research... 🧵

I’m excited to be taking part in Our Future Health study - the UK’s largest ever health research programme! They are still seeking participants and you can apply via this website ourfuturehealth.org.uk

I had a great time chatting with @danwuori.bsky.social last week about his daily videos and great book, The Daycare Myth. If you missed it, you can still watch our discussion here: vimeo.com/1067771392/8... Thanks for stopping by Nesta, @danwuori.bsky.social! 🌟

NEW report from me and @nehaldavison.bsky.social on school readiness: - Who is most at risk of not being school ready? - What does this mean for the govt's opportunities mission? Is the target for 75% of children to be 'school ready' helpful? 🧵⬇️ www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Hi @ceaubin.bsky.social I’m excited for your podcast. I’d love you to do an episode about Samuel Pepys one day - since reading his diaries I’ve often felt frustrated that British people seem to feel broadly affectionate towards him. I think some re-examination is due!

Great to see the decision to expand the ULEZ paying off & providing cleaner air for Londoners. In Lewisham, NOx emissions have reduced by 37% thanks to the ULEZ! I'm looking forward to seeing the ULEZ continue to transform air quality in our city & improve our health.

Today we spoke to the BBC about the record levels of heat pumps being installed in the UK. Nesta's @madgabes.bsky.social shared why it's a positive sign but why more can be done to remove barriers to adoption, such as changes to planning rules ⬇️

This is what I’m reading today, and I’m loving it! 🚀 #WorldBookDay

Are you heat pump curious? You can book to visit a heat pump in someone’s own home near you using this website www.visitaheatpump.com It’s free and there are loads of locations in England, Scotland and Wales

UK homes install subsidised heat pumps at record level www.bbc.com/news/article... Great to see the heat pump revolution taking off! More to be done to speed this up, not least removing policy costs from electricity and changing the way electricity pricing works, but great to see progress.