Love Early Years (originally Ci2eye) is the mission statement of Christian Initiatives in Early Years Education, which is a UK based charity for those working in early years provision. It seeks to inspire, encourage and develop this important work from a Christian perspective.
Ci2eye was set up by Ruth Andrews, a qualified early years teacher, who has a passion for seeing young children touched by the love of God. Ruth set about responding to a two-part vision. Firstly she led her local church in opening a pre-school to reach the young children in their community with a practical, real demonstration of the love of God. Secondly, she saw this initiative being transferred nationwide, encouraging Christians to grasp the opportunity to show the love of God in action amongst families with young children.
Fulfilling the first part of the vision, Samuels Christian Nursery opened its doors in 1990, and it has gone on to be an example in the neighbourhood of high-quality care for young children. Ten years later, the second part of the vision began to emerge. After encouragement and support from a range of Christian organisations, Ci2eye was launched in 2003 at a joint conference with Care for Education .
Ci2eye celebrated its 10th birthday in 2013 with a Celebration in which colleagues from Europe and the United States took part. In 2016 it was decided to refer to our ministry as Love Early Years rather than Ci2eye, because it refers to what we do rather than being an obscure acrostic.