Westminster's Lord Mayor raised LEYF's King's Award flag at its Marsham Street nursery on 28 October, as LEYF launched a 2026 to 2030 sustainability plan.

The Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Karen Scarborough, helped raise a King’s Award for Enterprise flag at the London Early Years Foundation’s Marsham Street Nursery and Pre-School on Wednesday 28 October, World Sustainability Day.

The London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) won the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2025. The flag raising also marked the launch of its new Sustainability Strategy for 2026 to 2030.

Joining the Lord Mayor were Councillor Christabel Flight, Westminster City Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Children and Education; Dr June O’Sullivan OBE, chief executive of LEYF; and Nick Corlett, its Sustainability Manager.

What the new strategy sets out

LEYF’s first five-year strategy brought economic, social and environmental sustainability together, and the foundation credits it with securing the King’s Award. The new plan, LEYF says, goes a step further: it sets out an ambition for LEYF to become a “sustainability-informed organisation”, with environmental responsibility, social justice and inclusion built into everyday nursery practice and into how decisions are made.

Mr Corlett, who manages the work, said:

“Our new strategy builds on the progress we’ve already made and sets out practical steps to reduce our environmental impact while involving children, staff and families. From reducing waste and making better use of resources to encouraging children to connect with nature, we want sustainability to become a natural part of everyday nursery life.”

“Something we need to live and practise every day”

Dr O’Sullivan said the point was what happens in the nursery each day rather than what is taught about it:

“Sustainability isn’t something we just teach children about. It’s something we need to live and practise every day. Young children are naturally curious about the world around them, and we have a responsibility to help them understand how to care for it. Receiving the King’s Award was a wonderful recognition of our work, but our new strategy is about going further and making sure sustainability remains part of everything we do.”

The Lord Mayor said:

“If we want to build a more sustainable future, we need to help children understand and care for the world around them from the very beginning.”