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The Auntie Foundation - a new childcare not-for-profit charity helping vulnerable children in South Africa launches its Advent appeal

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:40:00 +0000

A ‘not-for-profit’ charity working with the childcare sector in the UK and Ireland has been set up to promote the human and social development of vulnerable children and their families, living in extreme poverty in South Africa.

The Auntie Foundation has been founded by Russell Ford, the former Chief Executive of Asquith Nurseries, and it is working in partnership with two established charities in South Africa; Ikamva Labantu (which means ‘the future of our nation’), and the Amy Biehl Foundation, in order to resource, run and support crèches (day nurseries) in the poorest South African township communities, and support the training and development of childcare practitioners in South Africa.

The Auntie Foundation – its name is derived from the way ‘auntie’ elephants support the mother and care for calves when they are born – is also supporting after-school and mentoring programmes for children and young people aged 7 to 18, sponsoring primary education for those unable to afford it, and providing vocational training to help young people into meaningful jobs.

Mr Ford said, “We’re not trying to parent these children. We’re trying to provide support for the parent as well as for the child at a time and in circumstances when they are particularly vulnerable.”

He added, “Childcare practitioners in the UK and Ireland are an amazing group of people. Having visited South Africa twice and spoken to a number of non-profit organisations out in South Africa, I realised that what we should do is tap into that potential in the UK to not only fundraise but also implement projects through established non-profit organisations already doing this kind of work.”

Mr Ford hopes day nurseries and other childcarers across the UK and Ireland will fundraise for the charity and use it to forge links with childcarers in South Africa. “Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of what we do is that we create opportunities for settings here in the UK and Ireland to ‘twin’ with crèches in South African township communities. Practitioners will be able to forge relationships with ‘Mamas’ running crèches there – perhaps even visiting them - and children will benefit from huge learning opportunities and forging their own relationships with children there. And, of course, the crèches there will benefit from our financial support.”

The charity’s first fundraising drive – ‘Share + Care’ – is an Advent Calendar with Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum-based activity plans for the two to three and three to five age groups to run every day during December.

Mr Ford said, “Behind each window of the calendar is an illustration of a gift or toy. The idea is that each day in the build-up to Christmas practitioners open a window with their children and through the activity plans teach children about ‘gift giving’ and generosity, about children in other parts of the world that don’t have toys or receive gifts – and through the activities promote the idea that it’s better to give what you have to others than to be selfish.

“At the end of the month we’ll ask each parent to choose one of the gifts with their child to give to children in Africa, all of which we can buy with a £5 donation.”

Mr Ford hopes that 2,500 settings across the UK and Ireland will take part in the initiative. “If each setting gets 40 parents to each give £5, that will mean £500,000 of gifts for African children who have little or nothing, and settings get a lot of free activity planning,” he says.

As a ‘not-for-profit’ charity, all the money raised will be used directly in Auntie Foundation projects in South Africa.

Mr Ford explains, “Auntie is a ‘volunteer-only’ organisation, so no-one will take a salary.

“Any fundraising costs that we do have will be met by Gift Aid on donations. So every penny will be spent directly on the vulnerable children we’re helping in South Africa.

“I think it’s important that when people donate, it all reaches the children it’s intended for, and that the money is invested in projects that are sustainable in the long term.”

More details about the Auntie Foundation and how day nurseries can get involved with fundraising activities or to ‘twin’ with a crèche in South Africa can be found on the website www.theauntiefoundation.org.

Gordon Brown and childcare places for two year olds - back of cigarette packet thinking?

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:07:00 +0000

In his speech to the Labour Party conference in Brighton, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has just announced the creation of 250,000 childcare places for two-year-old children in England that will be funded by scrapping tax relief on childcare.

In other words, scrapping tax relief on childcare vouchers, a salary sacrifice scheme happily endorsed by Gordon from April 2005 when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer that currently enables working parents to save around £1,200 a year each on their childcare costs.

A household with two working parents can save just under £2,400 on their annual childcare costs. But not for much longer.

I wonder how middle earners with young children will appreciate the removal of this perk. Will the knock-on effect be that parents will not be able to afford to pay for as much childcare? The industry will suffer from a net loss of many millions of pounds of much-needed revenue at a time when it needs every penny it can bring in.

I also wonder what the childcare voucher companies must be thinking as in a casual throw-away comment Gordon has made childcare vouchers redundant for working parents.

Now, we just have to wait to be told when all of this is to happen.

Nice one Gordon.

Childcare bureaucracy madness America-style

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:18:00 +0000

With the controversy continuing around the two Aylesbury policewomen who have been told they must register as childminders in order to care for each other's children while the other one is working a shift, a similar story has emerged in the United States.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a mother in Michigan has been told by the state's Department of Human Services that she is facing a fine and a jail sentence for keeping watch on her neighbour's children before school.

Lisa Snyder of Middleville said her neighbourhood school bus stop is in front of her home and as the bus arrives after her neighbours need to be at work, she keeps an eye on three of their children for up to 40 minutes until the bus comes.

As in the case of the two policewomen, someone anonymous complained to the Department of Human Services that Lisa was operating an illegal childcare home. The Department then contacted herand told her to get a childcare licence, stop watching her neighbours' children, or face the consequences.

"It's ridiculous." Lisa said. "We are friends helping friends!"

She added that she accepts no money for babysitting.

You can read the full story here.

It's good to know that when it comes to bureaucracy going mad, the US is as bad as the UK.

Interview on SportTalk Radio about the two policewomen and their childcare arrangements

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Last night Ian Collins interviewed me on London's TalkSport Radio about childcare.

Well,it wasn't about childcare in general but and the absurd case of the two policewomen in Aylesbury who have been told by the English childcare inspectorate Ofsted that they must register with it as childminders because they take it in turns to care for each other's children when the other is working a shift.

I agreed with Ian how this is bureaucracy gone mad, courtesy of a zealous adherence to the Childcare Act 2006. I pointed out how the legal way to avoid this is for both mothers to say they are nannies and care for the children in each other's homes instead of their own.

Yesterday morning I contacted Ofsted to double-check if my reading of the situation was correct and was told, "If these two women cared for their children in each other’s homes they would not have to register.

"That is if Mrs A looks after Mrs B's child in Mrs B's house, she does not need to be registered, but if she looks after Mrs B's child in her own (Mrs A's house) then she does need to be registered."

This is crazy. Why won't the Government create a compulsory register of nannies - especially as it is intent on registering parents caring for children for no reward within their own home.

The police should work as nannies instead

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:45:00 +0000

The petition below on the 10 Downing Street website shows just how crazy aspects of Government legislation around childcare in England is.

The petition has been posted because two part-time policewomen who are lifelong friends have had the audacity to take it in turns look after each other's child as well as their own to enable them both to work shifts.

However, someone told Ofsted, which told them they must register as childminders.

The result is the children are in day nurseries, when they would prefer to be with their mothers.

BUT, there is another, easier solution under the same Government legislation.

These two policewomen could say they are nannies and care for the children in each other's home. Then they would NOT have to register with anyone, not even Ofsted.

They won't even need to get an Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (that's quite useful if you work for the police).

This is Government bureaucratic madness and shows how stupid the legislation is.

Trained professional nannies nannies want to be on a compulsory register and be properly regulated.

But the Government won't do it and wants to regulate parents instead.

Here's the petition:

Question: When is a parent not a parent?

Answer: When Ofsted say they are a childminder.

Consider this:

Two women who work for the same company give birth at similar times. When their children reach the age of one both women wish to return to work on a part-time basis.

They decide to job share and undertake reciprocal childcare in order to minimise their outgoings and enable themselves to return to work.

The two women are very good friends and trust each other to look after their child.

The children are also very good friends and have grown up together like sisters.

However, after a visit from Ofsted they have now been stopped from doing this.

The reason?

Due to the law concerning childcare, caring for another person's child for reward is classed as childminding and requires the carer to be registered with Ofsted and to be subject to all of the rules and regulations that childminders are.

In this case, Ofsted say that the reward for minding is free childcare when they themselves go to work.

The women have now been forced to put their children into childcare meaning they can't work as they wished due to the elevated costs.

In a day and age when the Government want women to return to work, why is it made so difficult for people?

We are asking the Prime Minister to review the meaning of reward in the Children's Act to money and gifts so that reciprocal childcare would then be allowed.

If you agree, please sign this petition to show your support.

Off to speak at the Professional Nanny conference

noreply@blogger.com (Childcare Matters) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:04:00 +0000

Tomorrow afternoon I am speaking at the Profssional Nanny conference at Chiltern College, the nanny training college in Caversham, near Reading in Berkshire.

The conference is to celebrate excellence in nanny childcare and the high quality of care trained nannies give to the children they care for.

I am speaking on why the Government should implement a compulsory nanny register in England. The topic seems to have stirred up a lot of interest for already I have been contacted by the Press Association, the BBC and given a telephone interview to Sky News.

Let's see what happens after I deliver my speech.