The Belle Tutaev Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually but the Early Years Alliance in memory of the founder of the Alliance.

“The Belle Tutaev Lifetime Achievement Award gives you a chance to formally acknowledge the incredible support made by one special individual to your service – whether pre-school, nursery, childminder, baby and toddler group or creche.”

Please read more about the inspirational life of Belle Tutaev: https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2019/02/memory-belle-tutaev-founder-alliance

We are so proud that this year’s winner was Karen Hazell. She received her award at the annual conference.

Karen has spent the last 22 years building up her setting, Holding Hands Preschool, alongside her team.

She first came into early years at 21. Karen has devoted her time and energy to other people’s children, providing consistently high-quality care and education which resulted in her earning her first Ofsted ‘outstanding’ in 2009.

Over the years Karen has continued to work with her team at every step to ensure that the children at the setting are care for, supporting families with a smile, visiting families at home and generally providing outstanding care and education.

Following her own feelings of loneliness and frustration of being a parent to a child with significant difficulties, she has shaped Holding Hands Pre-school into a safe space for those in similar situations, supporting families and children with neurodiverse diagnoses or pathways and building vital links with Brokerage, Portage and health visitors.

Karen and her team have now been awarded 5 consecutive ‘outstanding’ judgements and Karen continues to spend most weekends and free time developing the setting to help more families from all walks of life. This year, her dream is to provide summer clubs and camps to families that are not neurotypical, providing even more help to those families that need it the most.

Karen’s nominator Jessica says of her…

“Although Karen has had many tragedies and upset, she has never wavered in her commitment to childcare. She has always carried on and, with a smile, lifted families up and gone the extra mile to ensure that no one feels like she once did.

“Karen is incredibly deserving and I feel now is the time to recognise the woman she is and all the people she has helped along the way.”

So huge congratulations to you Karen!

In reply Karen said:

Receiving this award is a tremendous honour, and I am deeply appreciative and genuinely touched. This award is not only a recognition of my accomplishments but also a reflection of the incredible mentors from the early years team, aiding my navigation through an ever changing and challenging sector, also, my colleagues who continuously and unwaveringly support me with my curious and diverse ways of delivering early years provision and my desire to implement emotional wellbeing within a world with no time to reflect and rest but more importantly I would like to deeply thank and honour my beautiful deputy manager and sister her steadfast loyalty, understanding and compassion carrying the burden of my turbulence has given me the strength to carry on an proceed to be just me with no conditions.

I began my early years Journey after an injury following a car accident, I volunteered reading at my son’s preschool to aid my recovery, this is where I felt I belonged without judgement; however, it also brought about painful memories of losing my first-born child to cancer at the tender age of 3yrs.

I would sometimes sit and think what I would have loved for her to enjoy and all the wonders of childhood that would aid her to flourish. Upon seeing my eagerness and enjoyment alongside the children the committee employed me as a preschool assistant, my passion grew quickly, and I soon found myself deep in studying for qualifications within the Early years sector.

Gaining knowledge and support from the Alliance, I became the manager of a small playgroup (Mitchell Walk) and within my first year I was awarded my first outstanding alongside my sister and Mariana Kirk, our world quickly came crashing down when the site we rented was under development and we were told to move.

With support and guidance we found a pavilion and moved with just three families, it was an incredibly scary time, however we proved to be a success and grew further receiving our second outstanding, we needed to move once again and found our forever home, which has proven year on year to be desired by local and further away families due to the quirky way we deliver our day to day experiences this in turn has led to five consecutive outstanding’s, and this is now where I smile knowing that I have provided to ALL families what I wasn’t provided with my own child.

As we all know the last few years have been incredibly difficult, with lack of investment from the government, working expectations to meet parental working requirements, an ever-growing demand to deliver above and beyond needs and of course being overstretched and at times feeling unrecognised and it is hard.

Being recognised by such a prestigious organisation places belief in our abilities and the acknowledgment of our work motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of childhood experiences

Thank you for believing in me and my abilities.