60 seconds with… Nicki Howard
From seeing children grow and flourish to helping families work through challenging circumstances, Nicki Howard talks to us about life as Director at 1st Place.
Tell us about yourself.
I am the Director for 1st Place, responsible for all aspects of the charity. This includes liaising with the Early Education Managers on the nursery provision, managing the delivery of children’s centre services across the north west of Southwark, working with the Trustees to develop the charity and its strategic direction, linking with the local authority and a range of statutory and voluntary services which support children and families in the borough, and safeguarding.
Keeping on top of the constant changes to the early education sector and government policy while also maintaining services for the wider community is a challenge. However, I am very lucky to work with such a great team of people who are committed to doing their best for our children and families.
Tell us about your career path.
I began my career in the conservation of documents and manuscripts, working at the V&A and Natural History Museum. I then moved into qualitative research, focussing on brand development. When I had children, I realised that my job was not very child friendly, and came into contact with the local Sure Start programme. I was a parent forum representative and a job came up as an Administrator. Over the next three years, I worked my way up to director level, before the Sure Start programme became children’s centres. I became Locality Manager for the Peckham and Nunhead area then applied for the Director position at 1st Place in 2009, I have been here ever since.
For over 15 years, I have worked in services for children under 5 in Southwark. I therefore have good knowledge of how we can support children and families. I also understand the benefit of working in partnership with the council and agencies in the education, health and voluntary sector.
What makes 1st Place unique?
The fact that we are so rooted in our community. Also, the commitment of the staff team in ensuring that our children have the best early education experiences, and that our families get the help that they need.
What makes working at 1st Place so rewarding?
Working with people, seeing children grow and flourish, and helping families work through some very challenging circumstances. I recently met with a new group of volunteers who are helping us with the Rose Voucher project. It took me back to my early Sure Start days, and how generous and willing people are with their time and skills to help others.
What does the future hold for 1st Place?
We will continue to grow the charity so that we can support more children and families. We will also be further developing our approach to early education including a visit to Reggio Emilia in May to build our future leadership capacity.
We are also working with the local authority to plan for the next phase of children’s centre services. The Rose Voucher project has been extended for another three years so we are pleased to be continuing our partnership with Guys and St Thomas’ Charitable Trust and the Alexandra Rose Charity.