Using Up Childcare Vouchers

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Childcare voucher help! I recently lost my husband to brain cancer. I am trying to sort out lots of our financial affairs and he was paying into the childcare voucher scheme. He has built up quite a lot however we no longer use childcare. Our children are 10 and 12years. I know the vouchers can be used for clubs and other activities. Is there any easy way of finding where they can be used. The government ofsted list only seems to show schools and nurseries. I would be really disappointed to lose the funds as they are quite sizeable. I have contacted the voucher company and they have allowed me continued access. Any advice would be welcomed.

I'm so sorry for your loss - you must have so much to think about. On childcare vouchers, I don't think there is a list. I used them for PGL at this age - got the kids away on residential courses for free. There are other residential courses that also accept them- for example the Wells Cathedral School music courses, and there must be others. I guess it might be a case of finding the kind of holiday skills or fun courses they might like and asking if they'll take them.

We found most organised holiday clubs would use them - I think you’ll need to look on the pages of the individual clubs you’re interested in to see if they take them or not.

It may be possible to get the money refunded back to you as well? We ended up with unused vouchers for my DH work and he was able to get the money back (can’t remember the detail of tax implications). He called the voucher company who told him what to do.
I’m very sorry about your husband xxxx

So sorry for your loss.

im continuing paying into mine despite few clubs around me taking them (and no clubs the kids will go to). The only reason i’m continuing is for PGL so im watching to see if anyone else has other suggestions tho!

i am sure you can get them refunded - it just needs a bit of sorting as obviously there are tax implications. I did strat looking into doing it but then didn’t follow through as Stagecoach started taking and I used up that way.

Sorry for your loss. We've recently got ours refunded but the employer will need to apply for this so not sure how easy it'll be in your circumstances.