Northampton swimming teacher's mission to shake up 10 Downing Street for children nationwide

A Northampton swimming coach has vowed to fight for the creation of a new seat in Cabinet for the nation's young people.

Tamsin Brewis, who owns baby swim school Water Babies Bucks and Beds, is leading a campaign to appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young people.

She is arguing the current post in No 10 - the junior role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children and Families - should be replaced with a senior cabinet minister title.

"This post doesn’t carry enough authority to pass regulations which benefit children in a wider sense," Tamsin said.

"Of course, these things take time, but getting this issue in front of policy makers at a higher level will hopefully help us achieve our goal, which is why a nationwide petition has been put in place."

The Northampton swimming teacher is campaigning in memory of Steve Franks, CEO of Water Babies UK, who threw his weight behind the cause after launching what is now the Children's Alliance in 2018.

Sadly, Steve passed away in April 2020 after contracted COVID-19. Now, the Water Babies network and Tamsin are continuing to champion Steve’s campaign.

Tamsin said: "I was so proud to campaign alongside him and raise the profile of this worthy cause, so it goes without saying that I will continue to champion the bid in his memory.

"Not enough is being done to ensure our children are getting the best start in life. They deserve the support of a designated authoritative voice to drive policies which will improve their future.”

The current Parliamentary Under-Secretary role is Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford.

The role that Tamsin and the rest of the Children’s Alliance members are campaigning for would work in a similar way as the best interests of women are dealt with by the current Cabinet Minister for Women and Equalities.

Children's Alliance has now launched a petition and has already surpassed the 6,000 signatures needed to get a response from Parliament.