To think the NCT should be free or much cheaper?

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

So to many people £48 for an 18 month membership is nothing...it's spare change. But that charge effectively exlcludes anyone on a really low income.

So only those who can afford it will benefit from what is essentially meant to be a charity to support parents or parents to be.

Their "vision" is copied below

Our vision is a world in which parents are valued and supported to build a strong society, believing that a child’s early years significantly impact upon the future they help to shape.

Our charitable purpose

We offer information and support in pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
We campaign to improve maternity care and ensure better services and facilities for new parents.
We aim to give every parent the chance to make informed choices.
We want to make sure that everyone has access to our services and activities.

But only if you have a spare 48 quid?

this Guardian Article claims that NHS antenatal classes are patchy...and that the middle classes are signing up to the NCT ones which are private of course...so basically the working classes and the unwaged are either getting nothing or not much.

WHY is the NCT a middle class thing? It's meant to be a charity!

We paid for the course but not membership. You didn't need it to access things like breastfeeding support groups/buggy walking groups etc. those things are completely free and accessible to all.

You can hardly prioritise nct membership which you don't need for anything

So don't go, and it doesn't matter that you didnt have the extra £20.

I'm not planning on NCT. I will go to NHS classes of course, but I have plenty of experience with babies and a bff who's a midwife, so should be fine. If I am not, I will ask the HV. I could afford it, but I am not going to go, because I don't want to. It's not a legal requirement.

Low income do get it cheap- there are upto90% discounts
I'm actually irked at your sense of entitlement
This isn't just about this thread but apparently because I work in a job above minimum wage I can afford to pay full wack for everything and should pay more for those who can't
Oh and I can't moan about it

It's really not nice but reality is on a limited income not everything can be made available, and I this country there is far far more than elsewhere

What do they offer? ( I somehow have managed to bypass needing it as mine are now at school), I'm assuming that means not much

Honey not sure why you've quoted me there? I wasn't saying you should go, you said if someone can't afford £20 they can't afford a baby. I pointed out they don't need £20 for nct

I attended nct events for about a year without being a member. I only became a member to take up a committee post.

Back then there was a hugely reduced membership fee for those on low incomes. I note that it is now £10 per year. There is also now a reduced rate for volunteers which there didn't used to be.

IIRC, you don't need not membership to access any of the things they offer. Stuff like the local newsletter and member coffee mornings maybe.

You don't have to be a member to attend coffee mornings as long as there is one person in attendance who is a member (so the event is covered by the nct public liability insurance)

I don't agree that it should be free. And also if payment by instalments is allowed and subsidies given for low incomes then I think that's perfectly fair.

It's aimed at middle class white mummys though isn't it?

They charge to keep the riff raff out.

In my area NCT support asylum seekers and the women's refuge. They arrange free collection and redistribution of used baby equipment and clothes to pass on and have run seaside trips fir low income families for the last 3 summers. This is done by p/t pAid staff and a lot of volunteers.

There is no compulsory charge fur coffee mornings and they filled the gaps when our Surestart provision was removed.

There is a massive amount more to NCT than the "public face" of antenatal classes. And mine were for more realistic than the nhs classes which were all about hyponobirthinf and what low c section rates the hospital has.

If your baby's father was at its birth, if you had free flow access to SCBU - that's down to past NCT campaigning.

Membership doesn't give you much, it's not meant to. Consider it money to support the wider work of the charity - much in the same way as you might donate to Oxfam or other charities.

I dunno. The NCT is a bit of an aspirational lifestyle choice.

I wouldn't have joined no matter how cheap it was meself.

They charge to keep the riff raff out.

That is a ridiculous and pathetic thing to say. Like most organisations, they charge to cover their costs.

NCT membership is effectively a charity donation. Almost all of their services are open to non-members and classes are seperate. Pretty much the only advantage of membership is early entry to nearly new sales. Other than that local branches have to open things up to everyone because it is supposed to be (and is IMO) inclusive.

What is it about nct that's aspirational? Genuine question, I thought mine was a lot of money but it's basically about buying friends isn't it? Hopefully friends are not aspirational

Nct in area was not exactly supportive to those struggling with bf. Not paying for THAT privilege, thanks

That's a shame sparky, mine were fabulous with breastfeeding support (and also fully supportive to those who chose not to breastfeed too).

I think the crucial thing is that all areas should have decent NHS antenatal classes. I had 6 sessions and they were all very useful, I may well have struggled (even more than I did!) with a newborn without them.

How do you think NCT should cover its costs OP? Make the richest member pay for everyone? Hold meetings on the pavement outside?

Saucy were you lucky enough to live in an area where there were free groups/friends and family around for support/available NHS antenatal classes? I wasn't. We moved 300 miles away when 28 weeks pregnant due to DH's work. NCT wasn't about being 'aspirational' for me, it was about getting through pregnancy and early parenthood with some support and with my sanity intact.

Agree 100% Postino

It cost about £200 when I did it. I've been had!

Do some people just go to NCT and don't do NHS classes? I ask because my local NCT classes are more convenient days of the week/distance wise than NHS classes.

*she asks for as yet unconcieved DC