Queen's Award for Cheryl-Lee

Early Years Scotland is delighted to announce that former Chair and Vice Chair, Cheryl-Lee Brown, has been awarded the MBE for services to children and families in West Lothian.

Cheryl served on the Board of Directors between 2000 and 2006 when the organisation was known as the Scottish Pre-school Play Association (SPPA). She is currently the Chief Executive of Midlothian Sure Start of which she is a founding member.

Cheryl says of her time with SPPA: ‘I learnt a huge amount from the Board and staff of SPPA during this period in relation to the early years, management process and early years policy. I was in the process of setting up Midlothian Sure Start during this period and this knowledge was invaluable.’

Cheryl started her career in South Africa as a Social worker. She is a passionate advocate for early intervention and prevention services. Having witnessed the impact of inter-generational adversity on the communities in which she’s worked, Cheryl became keen to explore how emerging research on the impact of childhood adversity/trauma has been successfully shared with local communities.

Consequently, as a Winston Churchill Fellow, she has researched community based mental health in Australia and the USA. Her report Communities, Trauma and the Early Years, was published in October 2020.