Good au pair finding sites / agencies & mothers help question

[romina]

Hi All,

I am about to begin the process of looking for a new au pair to start in the summer (august / september probably). We have had 2 great ones, both via APNI, one of whoom stayed 2 years - and the only thing stopping me going straight back to them is the high cost, what with times being what they are....

Does anyone have experience with other agencies / websites that dont cost £500+ ?!

Our AP is rarely home alone with DS, its more that my parents, who are also around, get tired and need help on the football side of thigns! They are very laid back and both current/previous APs have had a wonderful bond with them. We are about 40min outside London on the train, good english classes available, good network for APs, and it is a getting DS up in the morning and then looking after him, bathing etc, till I get home about 7pm - putting him to bed about once a week - but as I say, my parents are around and involved almost all the time too, so it is a team effort. My husband works overseas and is only home weekends. I currently pay £75pw but could go to a bit more if necessary. Car & petrol, european sat TV, wireless etc all incl and we are currently averaging about 6 friend/family visits here per AP per year - we really do want them to be a part of the extended family. Our previous AP has already been back here for a holiday!

I currently ask AP to vaccuum round once a week and clean kitchen and bathroom once also. I am wondering whether a mothers helps might be prepared to do a bit more housework and cooking (currently my parents do most evenings, I do one evening, AP does one - and weekends are 'join in if you want to'). we have great refs from past & current APs. Someone who would be a bit more 'housework aware' than most would be great, but of course, child focus is the monst important thing.

Im willing to go back to the agency, but if I could save a bit of money and find someone equally good, that would be great:-)

If anyone has any recommendations, please do let me know - would be very very grateful!

Apologies for typos etc - its been a long weekend! All opinions about what I am looking for, whether fair etc very welcome.

Thanks for reading...

Great AuPair and AuPair World are the ones that get mentioned on here quite a bit, so guess those are the main one's to try.

As you have a DS, perhaps try to interview some male au-pairs/mother's helps.

English classes are no longer needed, as Au-Pair visa category no longer exists. Though some young people wanting to work for a while in the UK may want to do some language study as well, so having English classes near is a plus point.

I think that finding someone child focused and also good at housework may be a bit of trouble... though you can but hope. Possibly avoid anyone who is a only child - someone with several siblings may have more of a 'muck in' approach.

Recruitment wise, EU Citizens can work in the UK. There are Special rules for Bulgarian and Romaian nationals.
A national of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia who wants to work for one month or more for a United Kingdom employer must register under the Worker Registration Scheme.
If you want to consider someone from Australia, Canada, Japan or New Zealand - they need to apply for Youth Mobility Scheme visa.

Hope that is of help.

GAP gets mentioned as being more user friendly but I have found it has limited numbers, I have also tried NewAuPair and EasyAuPair but always come back to APW as recruiting through the web is very much a numbers game (a lot start the process but you will reject a high number or never hear from them again after their first initial incredibly enthusiastic enquiry) and APW seems to be the one with the numbers.

abacus AP agency recruits all over the country and their nee is £240. Google them this is the 3rd time I've nused them and the service is excellent.

Thanks everyone!