Coleg Cambria is preparing to host its inaugural Childcare Show – a celebration of learner success and the excellence within the childcare industry.
Taking place on Wednesday, May 14 from 5.30pm to 8.30pm, the event will be held at the college’s cutting-edge £14m Nant building at Yale in Wrexham. This state-of-the-art health and wellbeing hub includes facilities such as the renowned Iâl Spa, simulated hospital environments, and immersive virtual reality training spaces.
Spearheaded by Lauren Lawrence, a Childcare Assessor with over a decade of experience as a nursery manager, the event is a pioneering initiative for the college. It will bring together more than 30 childcare organisations and businesses, welcoming up to 100 learners along with their families, local charities, and key stakeholders.
“Ultimately it will be an opportunity for the learners and staff to showcase the amazing work that takes place here and out in the community,” said Lauren.
“We wanted to celebrate that while promoting best practice and bringing childcare providers all under one roof at our cutting-edge Nant centre to engage and encourage the next generation of workers in this arena, because there is so much demand.”
Lauren also highlighted the unique opportunity for providers to experience the college’s facilities first-hand.
“The providers see our learners in a workplace setting but not the amazing facilities we have here, so it will be fantastic to show them the building, the training, and demonstrate the academic side of our programmes.
“My vision is for there to be pockets of people gathering ideas and information, bilingual networking and groups sharing best practice, which due to the nature of the job and hours people operate – early morning until evening – they won’t usually get a chance to do.
“From the interest we’ve had already it looks like being an incredible event, so we are excited to welcome people on the night.”
Attendees will include learners from Levels 2 and 3 of the Children’s Care, Play and Learning qualification, with participation from a wide range of organisations such as the NHS, Forest School, Wrexham Family Information Service, quality assurance teams, and private childcare providers.
With government initiatives in Wales making childcare more accessible, the sector is experiencing increased demand for qualified professionals – particularly in early years education roles.
Lauren believes collaboration across the industry is key to inspiring more young people to pursue a career in childcare.
“Childcare is an amazing and rewarding world to be in and can also act as a launchpad to many other areas due to the transferable skills, it is not just playing and looking after children, hence the need for these qualifications,” she said.
“There are so many options out there, but traditionally this hasn’t been seen as a viable long-term career, a perception we want to change, starting with this event.
“We are already being asked to make this an annual celebration so watch this space!”
For more information on Coleg Cambria’s Childcare courses, visit the Our Courses section on the college’s website.
To attend the Childcare Show or to request further details, contact Lauren Lawrence via email at lauren.lawrence@cambria.ac.uk.
