Kids Planet has won the WorldSkills UK Diversity and Inclusion Heroes Award for Programme or Campaign of the Year for its commitment to building an inclusive workforce in conjunction with our Men in Childcare campaign.

The group has created a number of new initiatives to promote diversity and encourage men to join the sector.

Within Early Years, men are an underrepresented group making up only 3% of the national workforce.  Our Men in Childcare campaign introduced male inclusive marketing materials, training sessions for staff, taster sessions for potential staff and a male support group. In partnership with the Fatherhood Institute, we have transformed our business to positively encourage men to join the industry.

Sponsored by Toyota UK, the award honours, celebrates and shines a light on individuals and organisations who are going above and beyond, championing diversity and inclusion within their organisations and the wider skill system.

Gill Mason, head of training and the Kids Planet Training Academy said:

‘We are delighted that our work to raise the profile of men in childcare has been recognised by WorldSkillsUK.  We believe that looking after and educating young children should be a job for everyone, not just women. We have had a fantastic response to the campaign so far and we’re very much looking forward to supporting and training a cohort of men through our in-house Early Years (Level 2) Apprenticeship’.