David Lane - Editor Seedling Stage This issue marks our fourth anniversary, and so we say “Happy New Year” to all our readers and “Happy Anniversary” to ourselves. January 2000 seems a long time ago, and when we planted the acorn of the first issue, we could not have predicted then what the impact of the Webmag was going to be. Since then, growth in the Webmag’s readership has been pretty steady, and there are now regular readers from more than fifty countries. There are about 200,000 hits per issue, which amounts to a cumulative total of over 3.5 million hits since the first issue. We do not pretend, though, that the Webmag has reached its full potential. It is at seedling stage. We have lots of ideas for developing the Webmag and offering a better service; we would like to publish a greater volume of material, covering a wider range of interests. We have worked on a shoe-string budget so far, and would have liked to have developed further. The scope of the medium is there; we simply have not had the cash, and ideas we would have liked to develop have been put on hold as we would not want to start something off which we could not sustain. We have always been keen that the Webmag should be independent and able to speak its mind. If there are organisations which would be interested in joining the publishing partnership, or in providing sponsorship, FICE- England and Wales / Caring for Children would be interested to hear. The work of the last four years should provide an excellent springboard for developments in the next four, and thereafter. In celebrating our anniversary, we would like to thank the organisations which have sponsored the Webmag over the last four years, - the Institute of Care and Social Education, the Social Care Trust, the Hesley Foundation and the Charterhouse Group. We are indebted to the hundreds of people who have contributed articles, letters and other material, and the myriad people who have hit the button to read our pages. To all of you, thanks. All of us at the Webmag wish you all the best for 2004! If you are concerned about the way things are going and wish to help to shape future thinking, why not join CfC? Then you can have your say. Click here for an application form.