Early Years

Early Years is the largest organisation in Northern Ireland working with and for young children. We are a non-profit making organisation and have been working since 1965 to promote high quality childcare for children aged 0 - 18 and their families. Early Years is a membership-based organisation, a registered charity, a company limited by guarantee and is governed by a Board of Directors.

On 1st November 2007 we changed our name to Early Years - the organisation for young children. When we started our work in 1965 NIPPA stood for Northern Ireland Pre-School Playgroup Association, but as our work developed we realised that this did not fully reflect all that we do so we changed our name to NIPPA - the early years organisation. In 2005 we realised that our work had moved on again and after consultation with members and stakeholders we voted to change our name to Early Years - the organisation for young children.

Currently Early Years provides information and training for parents, childcare providers, employers and local authorities.