How much would you pay for a play group

[Sunshine78]

I run a play group for 0-school age children. The parents stay and have to help set up and put away.

At the moment our fees are £1 per adult and 50p per child over 9months for this you get 2 1/2 hrs pplay and a drink/biscuit each.

Would you still pay £1 an adult and £1 a child? - We have some childminders who come who bring up to 3 children each. Also local gym offers a play morning for £3.75 for an hrs play and drink afterwards which does not involve helping in any way.

Your thougts are much appreciated.

[EdwardBear]

I go to a couple of similar sounding groups.
I pay £1 for one group and the other group I pay £1 for first child and 50p for additional children.
Never been to a group where I pay for myself.

I'd charge per child who wants to join in the snack time rather than over 9 months tbh as well

[compo]

£1 per family round here

[2cats2many]

I pay anything between £2 and £6 per child. Have never had to pay for myself. That's in London.

[littleducks]

I pay £1.50 for first child 50p for second for playgroup just as you describe, parents help set up and put away for twohours, hot drinks for parents biscuits available for all with no official sit down 'snack time'

some parents often come together if they have a day off, tbh i would do a more 'family' activity if dh had time off but did take mil once, so i dont think paying for adults would go down so well here

why do you want to put the prices up? Have costs increased or do you neeed new toys etc?

[MayorNaze]

£1 per family here too as far as i can tell.

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

We pay

£2.00 Mum and baby

£2.50 mum and toddler

£3.00 mum and siblings

Prices went up recently as it's run inconjuctio with a pre-school member of staff sets out/ co ordinates...

Saying that I also attend a church run group which is 50p per family!

[compo]

Sunshine78 - it really depends what your overheads are?
at mine all the ladies are volunteers who run it, in a church hall, no hire charge for the hall. So the £1 pays for juice, biscuits, coffee and tea
toys are donations
if there is a summer fair then money is raised for new toys

[Sunshine78]

littleducks- if we dont do something ASAP we will have no money left by xmas. Looked at all our costs but none can be reduced and the number of people coming each week is reducing so therfore income is reducing - have tried everything we canthink of to get new people coming but nothing seems to work. We have put leaflets in the locla schools book bags posters up all round the village and in libabries, given leflets to local HV but no one seems to want to join us - think it is because they have to help run it.

[compo]

yes one of ours folded because the woman who had run it for ages didn't want to commit herself anymore and no one would take over

[conniedescending]

my playgroup is 50p per family - v reasonable

we get drink, biscuit, coffee/tea

I would still go at £1 per family but no more

[Sunshine78]

We have a lady who makes drinks who we should pay but often we dont. We have to hire the hall at £10 a go, buy the coffee etc and pay £150 insurance a year I know it doesn't seem a lot of expenditure but when we only take around £15 a session each session just isn't covering its costs and we've nearly used up all the money we had in reserve. I'm afraid to say it is not looking good.

[ruddynorah]

we pay £1 per family at each of the 3 different groups we go to. one of those groups charges for tea and coffee, something like 50p. that particular group has more in the way of costly activities, which are free to attendees..such as cutting and sticking, painting etc. the others are just toys on the floor type ones.

[compo]

the hall our mother and toddler gorup in also holds the preschool where people leave there 2.5 - 4yr olds for 2 and a half hours
I guess because of that we don't havew to pay for insurance as it is already paid for?

[Jas]

I go to three, all 50p-£1 per family, but they are all church ones, run by volunteers and held in the church/hall, so no hall hire costs, and no separate insurance.

I did go to one where they had similar costs to yours, and it was £2.50 per family (a few years ago) bu has folded now due to increases in hall hire costs.

[WriggleJiggle]

THe ones I go to charge 75p - £1 per family. I wouldn't go if it were to cost me much more than that. The one that is best organised (proper craft activities, stories, singing, assistants etc) is 75p - bargain! The £1 one has a help yourself tea/coffe and a table of really yummy snacks for the children.
If I went to yours I would have to pay £4, which seems a little excessive for a general play session.

I expect to help with the setting up and clearing away. That seems to be the norm.

[onadietcokebreak]

Sunshine have you had any feed back from people who now longer come? Is the time/day not convienent?

Is there something you could do that sets it apart from the rest eg. Get a toy library van to visit with catalogue for orders. One of our groups does this, you order one week and its delivered the next. Makes people what to go.