Justice for Joshua

The launch coincides with the first anniversary of the death of Joshua Massey-Hodgkinson, the 19-month old who died while in the care of a binge-drinking carer.

We have joined forces with his family to call for a wide range of new measures to ensure no other child dies in similar circumstances.

And we are urging readers to fill in coupons in the Evening Telegraph backing our call for action, which we will take straight to the Government in Downing Street.

The Justice for Josh campaign's goals are:

l Better regulation. We want the Government to make Ofsted tighten up registration regulations so people with major problems such as binge-drinking are barred from child minding

l Better training. Currently, child minders only have to complete a basic one or two day course within six months of registration. We want all new child minders to have similar qualifications to nursery nurses -- at least an NVQ in childcare

l Better information. We want Ofsted to state clearly the terms and conditions of registration for each child minder on their website, along with details of information collected during registration, so parents know what carers can and can't do

l Better knowledge for parents.

We hope a continued high profile for Joshua's case will make other parents using childminders more knowledgeable about the system helping to prevent other tragedies. Joshua, who lived with his parents in St Paul's Terrace, Clitheroe, died at the home of his registered child minder Wendy Barlow, in Eightacre Avenue, Sabden, last April. The mother-of-three, who had admitted to having a binge drinking problem before getting her childminding registration, couldn't prevent him drowning in her bath in the early hours. Barlow, formerly of Accrington, is now serving a three-year jail term for his manslaughter after pleading guilty at Preston Crown Court last month. It has since transpired Barlow was not registered to look after children at night but Josh's parents were not told about that or her drinking. Last week, Ofsted, which oversees the registration of childminders, also told Joshua's parents Emma Massey, 25, and Simon Hodgkinson, 34 that Barlow wasn't allowed to look after children upstairs. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged the Government would act on any recommendations put forward by an independent inquiry into Joshua's death, which is currently ongoing. Today, Kevin Young, editor of the Evening Telegraph, said: 'This was a most tragic case which exposed serious weaknesses in the system of registering and recruiting childminders in the UK. We must ensure that this never happens again, so that Josh's death was not in vain. 'We must have better regulation, better training, better information made available to parents and, through publicity, ensure they have better knowledge of the potential pitfalls associated with using childminders.' Emma and Simon were due to appear on ITV's This Morning show today to promote the campaign. A website is also due to be launched by the family, with people urged to download a form, sign it, and send it to the Evening Telegraph. Emma said: 'At each turn, there seems to be something else we weren't told. That's why we are launching this campaign. 'I think we still have to fight on, and make sure that we get something done to ensure that something good comes out of Joshua's death.' Joshua's grandmother, Cathy Massey, of Clitheroe, has already appeared on GMTV to highlight the case and has met children's minister Margaret Hodge. Mrs Massey, who runs a vets in Burnley, said: 'We have to do all we can to ensure Joshua's death leads to some good, somewhere. 'I feel we owe it to him. We have had a worse 12 months than anyone could ever imagine, and we never stop thinking about him. 'But there is a strength we are getting from Joshua, that keeps us going. We will keep fighting for change.' Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans has given the campaign his full support. He said: 'There should be change.'