Boromi is an award-winning network of in-school play libraries. We're on a shared mission to empower every parent to support and nurture their child's early development through powerful, purposeful play together at home, where it matters most.

The problem Boromi is trying to solve, is that almost half of all five-year olds from lower income families across the UK start school already behind their wealthier peers and without the foundations they need to thrive and reach their potential. Last year alone, this equated to 39,235 children.

Evidence indicates that this disparity not only persists throughout school, but becomes increasingly challenging to close and can be equivalent to "up to two years of learning by the time they sit their GCSEs" (Andrews, Robinson and Hutchinson 2017). As a result, these children are significantly more likely to leave school without qualifications reflecting their ability, ultimately having a detrimental impact upon their post-16 options, employment and long-term life chances.

Because of this, we know that addressing this gap by the age of five is fundamental to providing these children with a fair start in life.

There is a thorough evidence base to show that what a parent does at home with their child during the first five years has a greater impact upon that child's outcomes all the way to age 18, than any other factor including family income, parental education and school environment (Desforges 2003; Field 2010; Gutman and Feinstein 2007; Sylva et al. 2004).

Taken together therefore, suggests that through supporting parents to improve the learning that is happening at home during the first few years, we are best able to improve long term child outcomes.