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CRY
is a pressure group whose aims are |
- the
establishment of statutory registration for people working with
children and young people
- the
creation of a voluntary National Register as a stepping stone
to statutory regulation
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It
was decided that CRY should be set up at a meeting held in Westminster,
chaired by Jackie Ballard Lib Dem MP for Taunton. Credit for
the title also goes to Jackie. CRY is an ideal title for a pressure
group - short, snappy, suggesting that we have something to shout
about, and with undertones of the abuse and harm suffered by
children and young people when at the mercy of the wrong people.
Membership
of CRY will be open to any individual or group sharing its aims,
and contact should be made with : ICSE 57 Graham Road Chiswick
London SE1 5AR |
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CRY
will put pressure on Parliament through its Parliamentary
Group, chaired by Martin Salter MP. This Group will keep
Members of Parliament and Peers informed of developments and
of CRY's thinking through news-sheets, meetings and other events.
Its parliamentary members will inaugurate debates from time to
time, and seek meetings with Ministers to encourage them to adopt
CRY's aims. Clearly, if the National Childcare Register is to
be statutory, Government support must be won. |
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A
Publicity Group, chaired by Tricia Pritchard, the General
Secretary of the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, will
head up the drive to ensure that the media keep the issue to the
forefront. There will no doubt be a string of scandals and other
questions of concern to the public, but the question is how to
turn this concern into practical action on the part of those with
influence.
A Finance Group, chaired by Alan Griffin, the Chair of
the Institute of Childcare and Social Education, will be responsible
for seeking funding for the establishment of the Register, whether
from a Government grant, the Lottery, a Trust, a supportive business
or a private benefactor. To be effective, the National Childcare
Register will need to get off the ground running, and it will
need to have enrolled a substantial membership within a short
space of time to be worth consulting. A substantial starting fund
is needed.
Finally,
an Administration Group, chaired by David Lane, will ensure
co-ordination between the four groups, as well as developing the
necessary systems to set up a National Childcare Register.
See
the CRY News
items
