The Scottish Childminding Association is seeking a bank of childminders in North Lanarkshire to match with the parents and carers of school age children who are looking to get back into employment.
The 'Access to Childminding' (A2C) service received £250,000 of funding from the Scottish Government’s Access to Childcare Fund, announced within the School Age Childcare Progress Report earlier this year, and aims to help move more parents and carers into employment by matching them with professional childminders in their area who can provide flexible childcare, before and after school.
The scheme is being piloted initially in North Lanarkshire, City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife and Midlothian, with the aim of it becoming more widely available across the country.
A2C aims to help increase household income and families will benefit from high-quality, flexible childcare provided locally. In turn, it can help childminders to increase their business sustainability by providing access to new families who may have been unaware of how flexible childminding can support their family life.
SCMA is seeking around 100 childminders across the five pilot areas to take part, who have capacity within their setting to provide before and after school care.
Janine Ryan, head of childminding services at SCMA, said: “One of the barriers to parents being able to move into employment is being able to find affordable childcare locally.
“We believe A2C will really support that initial step into employment for parents with school age children - and they’ll have peace of mind that their child is receiving professional, high-quality and nurturing childcare, while they take that exciting step back into work.
“A2C is also a fresh, new business opportunity for childminders in North Lanarkshire who wish to take part.
“It provides the potential for them to enhance their service by introducing new families who may not otherwise have considered using a childminder.
“We would really love to hear from childminders who would like to give it a try, and from parents who think it might help to support them.”
Childminders, parents and referral agencies who interested in finding out more about the project can visit here or get in touch via email
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