This paper explores and questions some of the evidence used to support early childhood interventions in the UK, and reports on discussions with three rural Mini Sure Start project leaders in Devon. Sure Start funding in the UK has been repeatedly increased to provide more centres for 0-3-year-olds and their parents. It is increasingly linked to welfare to work policies designed to encourage a culture of "hardworking families" in areas of traditional deprivation. This finds resistance among parents to the idea of combining work and childcare for the under-3s. It also uncovers the complexity for key workers of trying to implement government directives in areas of rural deprivation.