Dear Editor,

Congratulations on the very first edition of the Children.UK WebMag. Coming at the beginning of a new millennium, it also seems to me to represent the start of a whole new era in child care. Now it is possible for carers to communicate feely and openly with each other across national and disciplinary boundaries, without being lectured to, advised or regulated! The quality of the first articles augurs well, and the lay-out is bright and clear. As one who has been involved in writing about child care for nearly 30 years in journals, magazines, books, and reports, this comes as the most welcome news in the child care field for many years. I recently noticed that there have been no replacements for the practitioners who used to write so deeply about children from daily experience in residential care (e.g. Dockar-Drysdale, Maxwell-Jones, Bettelheim, Balbernie, Wills etc.). One of the reasons may be the lack of suitable vehicles. If so your new means of communication could open the way for their successors!

I'll try to do my bit, of course, but I'll be hitting the site to listen to and learn from others. Could you prompt us with issues and questions, themes and ideas?

With best wishes on the whole project,

Yours sincerely,

Keith J.White.