The Princess of Wales‘s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has today announced plans to fund a new innovative mental health pilot to better understand young children’s development in early education. Princess Kate has long championed the importance of social and emotional development as critically important for enabling babies and young children to be mentally healthy, both in the short term and for the long-lasting impact on the rest of their lives.

It was one of the projects she was quietly working on behind the scenes despite undergoing cancer treatment last year after her diagnosis. The new pilot, called Happy Little Minds, aims to better understand how mental health experts in early education settings can support babies and young children’s social and emotional development.

The announcement, shared by Kensington Palace, comes during Infant Mental Health Awareness Week which this year takes place from June 9 until June 15 with the theme being “Who is holding the baby?”.

The pilot is a collaboration between leading children’s charities Barnardo’s and Place2Be, and will see mental health practitioners providing bespoke training and ongoing consultation about social and emotional development for nearly 50 early education practitioners in two nurseries in Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

According to the Centre for Early Childhood, the practitioners will also provide guidance for parents and directly work with some children and families.

Earlier this year, The Centre for Early Childhood published The Shaping Us Framework – aimed at improving awareness of and knowledge about social and emotional skills to inspire action across society. The framework, and other supporting resources being created by the Centre, will be part of the package of training and support given to staff.

The pilot, which is due to start this month and take place over the course of 12 months, will benefit around 150 babies, young children and their families.

A statement read: “Social and emotional skills shape who we are, how we manage our emotions and thoughts, how we communicate with and relate to others, and how we explore the world around us.

“They are fundamental to our future mental and physical well-being, shaping everything from our ability to form positive relationships, to our capacity for learning, working, and coping with adversity. They all have their foundations in early childhood and continue to be refined and enhanced throughout our lives.”

Christian Guy, Executive Director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said: “Early education and childcare settings can play such an important and influential role in supporting children and their families at such a vital time, in all sorts of ways.

“If settings are well-supported to promote social and emotional development in babies and young children, there is huge potential to positively impact all children, and for early intervention and prevention of future mental health conditions in those most at risk, which could be truly transformational both for individuals and society.

“Place2Be and Barnardo’s have such a wealth of experience to offer, and this pilot is an important step forward in understanding more about how this can be delivered to best effect.”

This is the second pilot funded by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

In 2023, it funded a trial of an observation tool for Health Visitors, known internationally as the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB), which focuses on a baby’s social behaviours such as eye contact, facial expression, vocalisation, and activity levels to help practitioners and families better understand the ways babies express their feelings.

After a two-year trial, the pilot was this year expanded to eight NHS sites, aside from the original two NHS trusts, following the positive results, with the phase set to run until March 2026.

Princess Kate founded the Centre for Early Childhood in 2021. Its vision is of a healthier, happier, more nurturing world, transformed by our collective approach to early childhood.