Put Children First deliver clear message to 10 Downing Street

Today, children and young people will be joined by MP Anneliese Midgley to deliver an open letter to the Prime Minister at Number 10.

As part of Alder Hey Children’s Charity’s Put Children First campaign, the open letter has been written by 16 year old Jai Radcliffe and 11 year old Sophia Morton and signed by more than 30 children, young people and child-focused charities.

The letter is an impassioned plea from the future electorate, saying “we want to make sure every child gets the opportunity to follow their dreams, not letting medical or financial obstacles get in their way”.

The powerful letter explains that Jai and Sophia have very different stories. Jai was removed from mainstream education and was told “there is no place for kids like you”. But he is now at college and thriving. While Sophia experienced health issues as a baby, but is now a star ballroom dancer who’s even had lessons from Strictly’s Shirley Ballas.

They share an important mission however: “want the Government to listen to children and young people – and put us first”. The letter includes a number of ideas for the Prime Minister from the children:

• Listen to young people’s voices so we are heard more in the political space.
• Prioritise mental health and give more health and fitness support, this can stop people from getting unwell.
• Make learning about neurodiversity mandatory to have a career in education and healthcare.
• Build more creative spaces for children and give more funding to schools or youth clubs to work in this area.

Anneliese Midgley, MP for Knowsley said: “This campaign is stressing the very clear link between child poverty, inequality, cuts to the NHS and the welfare system – and sick children. I have made my stance on child poverty very clear, and won’t rest until this is eradicated in my constituency and across the country.  I hope this letter from the amazing children and young people will encourage the Government to prioritise children and listen to doctors and nurses on the front-line.”

The Put Children First campaign launched in September 2024, because clinicians, academics and experts at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital felt they needed to raise the alarm on the “children’s health emergency” impacting thousands of children and young people.  

Doctors are seeing a rise in diseases in children which should have been eradicated – from measles to rotten teeth; children presenting with conditions usually only seen in adults such as lung disease and obesity and increasing numbers of young people suffering from poor mental health.

Children in poorer households are disproportionately affected and this is compounded by rising child poverty. The Government’s own figures state that a record 4.5[i] million children live in poverty – and since Labour took office in July, at least 30,000 more children[ii] have fallen into poverty.

Professor Ian Sinha, consultant respiratory paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said: “It is dispiriting as a clinician to see children and young people whose lives are blighted by preventable illness, or whose asthma is life-threatening because of their living conditions. In 2025, we must put an end to this crisis. We can treat the health conditions, but we can’t help families who can’t afford to travel to their appointments or are too scared to switch the heating on during the winter. The Government must listen to us, to children and young people, and ensure our voices are heard when planning the NHS for the future.”

Campaigners are calling on the Government to put children first and implement a radical redesign of the health system with children and young people at its heart.

​Fiona Ashcroft, CEO of Alder Hey Children’s Charity said: “It is rare for charities linked to NHS Trusts to get involved in the political debate. But many of the issues which we are now contending with are simply beyond the scope of our services: we need policymakers to act.”

Alder Hey Children’s Charity worked in partnership with the Alder Hey Youth Forum and Whizz Kids to write and sign the letter which is being hand-delivered to No.10.

The 30 children who have co-signed the letter include: Jai Radcliffe, Sophia Morton, Ivy Scott, Charlie Coventry, Mila Chiappero, Evie Runacus, Belle Watkinson, Albie Watkinson, Robert Cheetham, William Cheetham, Grace Blackburn, Ben Hyde and Aimme Keogh.

The charities who have supported the letter are Save the Children, Children North East, Obesity UK, Whizz Kids, NHSA, Health Equity North, Feeding Britain, The Children’s Society, PRAN and Children’s Rights Alliance for England.