Who was Ann Tayler?
Remembering the nursery pioneer who laid the foundations for Hackney’s early years services
The exterior of Ann Tayler Children & Family Hub
“You have to be very special to have a flagship children’s centre named after you. Ann Tayler was,” says Sally Bradbery, a friend and colleague of Ann’s.
For 40 years, the Ann Tayler Children & Family Hub has been helping families. Some come with newborns, some come looking for friendship and advice, while some just need somewhere warm where their children can play.
Ann was a childcare worker at the heart of Hackney’s nursery movement in the 1980s, helping to build the kind of local, family-centred support that continues at the hub today.
Those who knew her remember someone fierce, warm and committed to the community she served.
Biddy Hutton, manager of Ann Tayler Children & Family hub, holds up a photo of Ann Tayler, with Donna Thomas, assistant director, Early Years, Early Help & Wellbeing
Sally recalls: “She had a heart the size of the borough, the intuition to know what was needed and the character to see it through.”
Unfortunately, Ann never saw the centre completed. She was tragically killed by her husband before it opened.
The grief felt across the borough was profound, with hundreds of nursery workers, Council staff, parents and friends attending her funeral at Hackney Town Hall.
Months later, her ashes were scattered amongst the hub’s foundations and the naming of the building was, as Sally puts it, ‘a no-brainer’.
Four decades on, Ann’s name is still on the wall. Her legacy lives in the everyday life of the hub.
Babies being breastfed, friendships forming between families who may never have met otherwise, and parents finding their feet, building confidence and going onto training and into jobs.
Perhaps the most fitting tribute to Ann’s legacy is the Family Help support the hub provides.
This includes support with parenting, relationships, mental health, school attendance and domestic abuse.
Ann Tayler’s funeral, at Hackney Town Hall, 1986 (photo: Hackney Archives)
Find out about the free services the Ann Tayler Children & Family Hub provides; or call: 020 7275 6020.
Ask for Early Help support from your child’s teacher, GP, health visitor, midwife, or a children & family hub worker – or email
MASH@hackney.gov.uk
For urgent concerns about your, or your child’s safety, call the emergency duty team on: 020 8356 2710.