The Hard Yards of Delivery: How We Turn Policy and Evidence into Better Outcomes for Children in their Early Years
Presented by Aida Cable as the keynote at the PEDAL Conference 2026.
This session highlights how Thrive at Five ensures good policy survives contact with reality, and sets out some practical examples from programmes in Stoke-on-Trent and Redcar.
The case for reforming the use of data is made. The fact that multiple barriers mean local systems are expected to overcome national-level problems with quality and interoperability can lead to ‘creative workarounds’.
When it comes to actually reaching the people most in need of support, Thrive at Five’s test and learn, relationship-focused approach has yielded some positive results. The key to all of the progress made by Thrive at Five, is in its relationship building, thoughtful, careful and patient partnership work: many hands together deliver impact collectively.
Aida Cable is CEO of Thrive at Five.