‘Happy Little Minds’ pilot to support infants and families during crucial early years
The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood — a cause deeply championed by Princess Catherine — has announced a new funding initiative in support of infant mental health, aligning with this year’s Infant Mental Health Awareness Week.
The programme, titled Happy Little Minds, will place mental health specialists in early years education settings across Tower Hamlets and Hackney. The year-long pilot is a collaboration between leading children’s charities Barnardo’s and Place2Be, aimed at supporting the mental health and emotional development of approximately 150 infants, young children, and their families.
Set to launch this month, the initiative will also offer mental health training and ongoing guidance to around 50 early education practitioners working in two nurseries.
Christian Guy, Executive Director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, emphasised the role of childcare settings in shaping children’s futures: “Early education and childcare settings can play such an important and influential role in supporting children and their families at such a vital time, in all sorts of ways.”
Princess Catherine has consistently advocated for early childhood wellbeing, highlighting the foundational importance of emotional and social development in the earliest years of life.
Happy Little Minds marks the Centre’s second pilot project, reinforcing its ongoing commitment to advancing mental health support during the most formative stages of development.
