Reciprocal Childcare Groups in Glasgow

[WhiteRabbits]

Hi everyone

I've been thinking for a while now about reciprocal childcare groups, in which money does not exchange hands but parents 'pay' by looking after each others children. My DS is four, and I used to get by working part time and using the tax credits system, which is fine if you work a set amount of hours each week. However my work lately has been quite sporadic with short term contracts, and I'm finding childcare really difficult, expensive and inflexible. I am also toying with the idea of a PhD but have no time to do any reading in peace! I am originally from the Highlands and neither me or DP (who works full time) have any family here to help out, and none of my friends have children so we have a limited support network. I cant be the only person in this situation?

I was wondering if anyone here knew of any reciprocal childcare/babysitting groups already existing in Glasgow, or whether anyone would be interested in meeting up to talk about forming one. Or even better, more than one, in different communities across Glasgow. This type of informal childcare was common at one time, and maybe still is in some communities. It doesn't have to be about turning away from existing childcare provision, just helping provide more, which is free and at times which suit. Also, this may be a good time of year to try and get a group up and running with the summer holidays coming up.

If this resonates with anyone I'd love to hear what you think, either on here or via a private message.

Hi, where abouts do you live?

I am a nanny for 3 kids in the Southside and they will all be in school after the summer.

My employers are happy for me to stay on under the same terms but I am keen to find something to keep me busy during school hours. I work Tue - Fri and would be happy to do occassional, sporadic childcare if it helped you at all? Would mean you paying for the hours you use but if it suited you it would be cheaper than paying for something permanant.

Hi Whiterabbits,
We would be interested in sthg like that (no family here in Scotland) - not sure whether many other are in similar situation though?
We're in Knightswood, our DD is 10 month old.

Hi, I'm in Glasgow too. It sounds like a great idea (probably not for me at the moment, but my work is a bit erratic so perhaps in future), but I wonder if there are any legal implications for you wrt child protection? Do you remember the story about those 2 police officers (I think they were) who got into trouble for minding each other's children to allow for their shift working hours? I don't know the legal issues but you'd probably need to look into it, even if it's an informal arrangement.

Can't comment on the legalities of this idea - but can comment on the case of the two police officers: having signed the No10 petition about how stupid it was, I got the official response that agreed and said that the guidance on the law had now been clarified that such informal reciproical arrangements were OK.

Hi there,

I have just posted a fairly similar post on the Glasgow forum. Is anyone on this threads still keen to set something up or know if something has already been set up?

Hannah

A small group of us who met when our kids were at nursery run a similar system. None of us pay for after school care but take turns to have the kids.
Works ok but like any arrangement can fall apart a bit at times.

Is it still running? What days do you do? Where are you based?

User - were those questions for me?

We are in the east end. Our kids are all middle primary school age so easier to manage group activities, collections etc..