The National Child Care Campaign (NCCC) was launched in July 1980 at a conference organised by the London Nursery Campaign. The new national campaign was formed to fight for ‘a state-funded, comprehensive and flexible childcare service for children aged 0-5 years.’

They wanted this service to include democratic control of facilities by staff, parents and local representatives and the unionisation of child-care workers, who they wanted to have better pay, conditions and training. They opposed the run down or closure of existing facilities and supported parents and workers who took direct action against closures such as strikes or occupations. The campaign was also interested in the setting up of community nurseries, development of workplace nurseries and employment of childminders by local authorities.

The campaign made an explicit connection between a lack of childcare provision and 'an ideology which stresses that women should care for children and stay at home to do it'. They refused to accept that childcare was a 'private matter' and therefore the responsibility of individual parents, or that solutions should be left to the private sector. ¹

The NCCC described itself as an 'unusual campaign,' being both 'a national pressure group with service aspects' as well as 'a feminist campaign' that had 'a more than paper commitment to democratic and flexible participation at all levels.' ²

The campaign had a small start-up grant from the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE), and later received a grant from the Equal Opportunities Committee, which meant Helen Penn could be employed as the campaign's first paid worker. They also received a grant from the Commission for Racial Equality. Later, as Helen Penn wrote, the 'money from the left-wing Greater London Council (GLC) … allowed us to flourish,' in particular from the GLC's Women's Committee, who saw that childcare was at the centre of issues faced by women.

As well as providing funding, the NCCC had a close working relationship with the GLC. Julia Philips, the campaign’s 'London employment worker,' a position funded by the GLC, joked in the 1982 annual report that she was spending so much time at the GLC offices she was considering setting up a camp bed there. ³

The campaign aimed to be both anti-sexist and anti-racist. They recognised that those involved in the project were predominantly white and that they needed to challenge 'what this meant for institutionalised racism within the campaign’s policy and practice.' ⁴

The Black Working Party (BWP) was set up in 1982 and worked under the umbrella of the NCCC, offering ‘advice, resources, information and opportunities for black parents.’ Ann Clark, who was part of the BWP and employed by the campaign to work on anti-racist issues, was also involved with the Commission for Racial Equality.

In its 1982 Annual Report, the NCCC recorded 222 affiliate organisations, which, as well as local childcare campaigns, included 'community nurseries, women’s group, trade unions, trade councils and Labour party branches and women’s sections.' ⁵

The campaign's Trade Union Liaison Group (TULG) worked on building connections with and getting funding from local trade union branches. In 1982 the TULG distributed the leaflet 'Why Childcare is a Trade Union Issue' to approximately 40 unions. ⁶

Initially the NCCC’s constitution was quite open, and members could contribute to decision making processes in a relatively informal way, but as the campaign grew it was felt that 'increasingly tighter arrangements and controls' were needed. This included a two-tier structure and bi-weekly National Steering Meetings through which members could feed into campaign policy. ⁷

The NCCC had emerged partly out of organising that had been happening at local and regional levels since the early 1970s. Helen Penn, for example, had been part of the Wandsworth Childcare Campaign before being involved in setting up the NCCC and becoming its first full time employee.

The national campaign continued to support and act as a point of contact for local groups. Penn quotes a member from Sheffield saying:

'Our struggle for childcare is a network of local campaigns which national organisations like NCCC create a national perspective for ... We will not succeed until our base is strong and united.' ⁸

The NCCC was also involved in setting up new childcare projects and campaigns. The Croydon Childminder’s drop in, for example, was a collaboration between the Croydon Women’s Centre and an NCCC worker, and the Workplace Nurseries Campaign was established with support from the NCCC. ⁹

In 1984, the campaign managed to secure funding from the Department of Health and Social Services. This funding was used to set up community nursery projects across the UK including Oak Park Community Nursery in Havant and Manor Employment Project Nursery in Sheffield. ¹⁰ However, the campaign’s decision to take this government funding was controversial and alienated some of the campaign’s members.

The NCCC produced several booklets, guides and organising kits. One of its earlier publications, Childcare for all – A National Childcare Campaign Discussion Paper, was written by a working group within the National Child Care Campaign’s Policy Committee, as a first stage in reviewing and developing National Child Care Campaign Policy. The authors attempt to go back to ‘square one, by examining and making explicit our values base.’ It was intended to start a discussion and was explicitly not an agreed statement of the campaign’s position. It discussed societal views towards women and childcare and the changes that needed to happen in public life.  All parents should be able to afford childcare, they argued, and it should be provided free at time of use.

The NCCC also produced, with the help of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), a booklet about the current childcare situation Under Fives and Under Funded. At the time the LGIU was chaired by David Blunkett.

'Information work' made up a big part of the campaign’s output. This included a regular newsletter, responding to requests for information, and providing advice on setting up community nurseries and implementing anti-racist/anti-sexist practices in childcare settings. ¹¹ 

As well as producing their own papers and research, the NCCC often fed into work being done by other groups and organisations. They were asked to take part in working parties organised by the likes of the Inner London Education Authority, the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Department of Health and Social Security.

They also had 'quite an influence for a little while on the Labour party'. ¹² They contributed to the Labour Party Charter on Under Fives and MPs such as Harriet Harman and David Blunkett were both involved with the campaign at points.

The campaign shaped the public conversation around childcare through its engagement with the media. They regularly responded to press requests, wrote articles, and gave media interviews, for instance to The Guardian and the New Statesman. ¹³

The NCCC’s TV debut came in 1983 when its Film Group were given a half-hour slot on the BBC Community Programme Unit's Open Space. The film was shot at 'child’s eye view' and featured children, parents, and nursery workers from Ackroyd and Blackshaw nurseries to 'convey the happiness and peace of mind that come through good daycare.'

There were internal disagreements about the campaign's strategy and aims. One point of contention can be seen in a letter a delegate to NCCC’s 'Aims and Actions Conference' in Oxford wrote describing the 'disappointment' of those involved in parent and worker-controlled childcare. The writer felt that an expansion of state provision was 'tantamount to institutionalisation' and that the campaign was dismissive of direct action, instead adopting a 'wait-until-the-Labour-govt.-gets-elected-stance-and then-they’ll give us what we want (doubtful)” approach. ¹⁴

There were Black members of the campaign who felt that the NCCC's anti-racist stance was only a 'paper commitment.' In 1985 tensions come to head between the Black Working Party and the campaign’s executive. The BWP expressed strong feelings of alienation from the NCCC, which they described as an ‘all white campaign unable to attract Black membership’ and said that members of the BWP had felt ‘personally attacked by the hostility of certain workers.’ ¹⁵

The campaign was operating in a difficult political context. While the NCCC was pushing for the expansion of statutory provision, Margaret Thatcher and her government were working on cutting back the welfare state. The 1980s saw a reduction in local authority nursery places in many parts of the country, child benefits were frozen, and workers’ rights were chipped away, with part-time workers, largely women, hit particularly hard. In its 1987 annual report, the NCCC describes not being able to provide much more than 'tea and sympathy' to many of those calling their office looking for advice. 

As well as public sector cuts, it became increasingly difficult for voluntary organisations to secure funding. The abolition of the GLC along with the other Metropolitan County Councils in 1986 meant the end of one of the NCCC’s most significant and reliable funding streams.

In response to this, the NCCC set up a sister organisation, the Daycare Trust, in 1986. The idea was that the trust, which had charitable status and would therefore be able to attract a wider range of funders, would be responsible for the 'caring' aspects of the work providing 'information, advice, and support' while the NCCC continued with the more political campaigning aspect. ¹⁶

While the Daycare Trust’s aim of becoming a “mainstream, well-established charity” was successful, the capacity of the NCCC diminished over the course of the late 1980s and early 1990s. ¹⁷ Unable to secure the funding to employ even one paid worker, by 1993 their activity was limited and mostly consisted of providing advice to and linking up other groups. 

The Daycare Trust became the Family and Childcare Trust, and then joined the charity Coram in 2018. It is now known as Coram Family and Childcare. 

Footnotes

1. NCCC Annual Report 1986, Helen Penn archive, Grow Your Own, Bishopsgate Institute
2. National Childcare Campaign, Annual Report 1984 pg 4, Helen Penn archive
3. National Childcare Campaign, Annual Report 1982, Helen Penn archive
4. NCCC Newsletter Feb / March 1984, Helen Penn archive
5. National Childcare Campaign, Annual Report 1982, Helen Penn archive
6. Newsletter no.15 September 1982 / Newsletter no.17 January 1983, Helen Penn archive
7. National Childcare Campaign, Annual Report 1984 pg 4, Helen Penn archive
8. Helen Penn, Be Realistic: Demand the Impossible: A memoir of work in Childcare and Education, 2018
9. National Childcare Campaign Newsletter, Jan/Feb 86, NCCC Annual report 1984, Helen Penn archive
10. NCCC Annual Report, 1986, Helen Penn archive
11. NCCC Annual Report, 1986, Helen Penn archive
12. Interview with Helen Penn, recorded by Rosa Schling for Grow Your Own, archived at Bishopsgate Institute
13. NCCC Annual Reports 1982, 1986, 1987, Helen Penn archive
14. Helen Penn archive, Grow Your Own, Bishopsgate Institute
15. Letter from Black Working Party 28.01.85 to the National Childcare Workers and Executive with application to the GLC Womens’ Committee for funding attached. Pamela Calder archive, Grow Your Own, Bishopsgate Institute
16. NCCC/Daycare Trust Annual Report 1987, Helen Penn archive
17. NCCC/Daycare Trurst Annual Report 1988