You may have heard the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and so it does. A healthy, loving supportive and social start in life is nurtured through families, communities and a network of care and support, holding the child safe in those early, vital years.

We know just how important those first two to three years of a child’s life are. Get the right support in place and even the most disadvantaged child can go on to thrive. Get it wrong and the odds of a child growing up healthy, resilient and confident about their future are so very much worse.

Here in Monmouthshire, for nearly 20 years, we have had the Welsh Government’s Flying Start programme, helping children and their families in disadvantaged areas receive part-time high-quality childcare, access to parenting support, extra help from our health visitors and support for speech, language and communication development. Our work targets teenage parents, homeless families, mothers in women’s refuges, disabled parents, families in crisis and all those groups for whom care and nurture can be fraught and uncertain.

We, like the rest of Wales, are dedicated to childcare support. We have increased the number of places over the last two years and in time Flying Start will be available for every 2-year-old in Monmouthshire. I am delighted that our new Flying Start centre – Little Oaks based at the King Henry 3 -19 school in Abergavenny – has spaces for up to 57 children, double what was offered previously.

I popped down there last week to have a look. What an amazing place it is and don’t just take my word for it. The parents I met said how safe and supported they and their youngsters felt. It was a hive of activity. Children in a wonderful indoor/outdoor space playing happily alongside their carers.

Many of the children arrive at the centre hungry and, in our signature Monmouthshire way, healthy, nutritious food is available for them to eat.

Elsewhere in the unit there is ante natal class for mums, dads and carers, a baby and toddler group and a baby weighing and health-check session.

Our small and dedicated team, working with health board colleagues, cover it all, doing an amazing job in Little Oaks, as they do elsewhere across the whole county.

In short, we are building a squad of committed child-care workers who will, together with parents and others committed to raise a child well, strive to give the best start in life to those who need it most. Hats off to them!