Recognition for Ayrshire childminders

Jan 9 2009 by Lex Brown, Irvine Herald

NINE North Ayrshire childminders who set up their own businesses have been recognised by Scottish kids’ minister Adam Ingram.

He presented certificates to the group and congratulated them on their success over the past year.

The presentation was organised by the Scottish Childminding Association who are partly funded by North Ayrshire Council.

The association say flexible childcare options are all the more important to enable families to stay in work.

The group was set up in 1985 and is based on a network of volunteer members from Scotland’s 32 local authority areas.

It has a membership of almost 5000 and childminders are registered and checked out by the Care Commission.

Their Working for Families project set up in May 2005 has created 42 new businesses and provided work for 48 childminders. A further 20 people are currently going through the process of becoming registered childminders.

Anne McNellan, chief executive of the association, said: “Thanks to the funding from North Ayrshire Council, we have been able to offer speci alist childminding recruitment.

“This has benefited the people of North Ayrshire by bringing about local business opportunities and encouraged those who may not have done so to run their own business.”

The 207 childminders in North Ayrshire provide more than 1000 childcare places to enable parents to seek training or work.