International Finalist for Resource/Service of the Year at the GESS Education Early Years Awards 2025

This one feels extraordinary.

The GESS Education Awards are based in Dubai and celebrate excellence in education on a truly global scale. These are not regional or national awards. They bring together the best of early years education from across the world, recognising the resources, services and organisations that are making a real difference to children and practitioners wherever they are. To be named a finalist at that level, as a growing UK business rooted in the early years sector, is something we are genuinely pinching ourselves about.

When we built On the Button, we were thinking about the settings we knew. The nurseries, preschools and childminders working hard every day in villages and towns across the UK. We were thinking about the designated safeguarding leads carrying enormous responsibility. About the managers trying to support their teams. About the practitioners who love their work but sometimes feel the weight of it deeply.

We did not set out to build something the world would notice for the sake of kudos. We set out to build something that truly helped.

Recognised as a finalist on an international stage, in a category that speaks directly to what On the Button is: a resource and a service, built with care, for the people who need it most.

That feels significant. It tells us that the challenges early years professionals face are not unique to the UK. That the need for clear, accessible, human-centred support around safeguarding and wellbeing is felt by settings around the world. And that what we have built resonates beyond the borders we ever imagined reaching.

We are so proud to represent the UK early years sector at the GESS Education Early Years Awards 2025. And we are so grateful to everyone who has believed in On the Button, championed what we do, and helped us grow into something worth celebrating on a global stage.

To our customers, our supporters and our community: thank you. This belongs to all of us.

International Finalist for Resource/Service of the Year at the GESS Education Early Years Awards 2025. We are proud, and more motivated than ever.