love early years
Love Early Years (originally Ci2eye) is the mission statement of Christian
Initiatives in Early Years Education, which is a UK based charity for those
working in early years provision. It seeks to inspire, encourage and develop
this important work from a Christian perspective. Ci2eye was set up by Ruth
Andrews, a qualified early years teacher, who has a passion for seeing young
children touched by the love of God. Ruth set about responding to a two-part
vision. Firstly she led her local church in opening a pre-school to reach the
young children in their community with a practical, real demonstration of the
love of God. Secondly, she saw this initiative being transferred nationwide,
encouraging Christians to grasp the opportunity to show the love of God in
action amongst families with young children. Fulfilling the first part of the
vision, Samuels Christian Nursery opened its doors in 1990, and it has gone on
to be an example in the neighbourhood of high-quality care for young children.
Ten years later, the second part of the vision began to emerge. After
encouragement and support from a range of Christian organisations, Ci2eye was
launched in 2003 at a joint conference with Care for Education . Ci2eye
celebrated its 10th birthday in 2013 with a Celebration in which colleagues from
Europe and the United States took part. In 2016 it was decided to refer to our
ministry as Love Early Years rather than Ci2eye, because it refers to what we do
rather than being an obscure acrostic.
