The Trustees of Esmée Fairbairn Foundation have made a grant of £160,000 to the charity Coram Family and Childcare in memory of Baroness Veronica Linklater, who was a Trustee of the Foundation from 1990 to 2013, and sadly died in December 2022.
The grant forms part of our wider support for children and young people’s rights, in particular parents seeking better childcare and early education for children with special educational needs and disabilities. We know these were causes very close to Veronica’s heart, and dedicate the grant to her memory. We hope this is a fitting tribute to Veronica’s own generous contributions to the Foundation.
Good quality childcare can change young lives - boosting children’s outcomes, narrowing the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their peers, and enabling parents to work. All too often, however, the children who stand to benefit the most from early education and childcare are the very ones who are missing out. We are grateful and excited to receive this funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to help improve access to childcare for children with special educational needs and disabilities at a time when only one in five local areas have enough childcare for disabled children and thereby achieve change that lasts a lifetime.
Megan Jarvie, Head of Coram Family and Childcare
Read more about Baroness Veronica Linklater’s life and work in her obituary in The Times.
