Gym with childcare - competition finalist HELP!!!

[buddhasbelly]

Hi all,

Following my daughter's birth last year I suffered from severe PND - I wasn't working at the time and was very isolated. I was prescribed anti Ds but took a reaction to them and had a seizure. It was a pretty dark time in my life and posted on here a lot at the time as there was a lot else going on.

Aaanyway...I took to going to the gym to try and help my mood as any medication was then out of the question.

Fast forward a year and I am now working in the field that I graduated in (business development) in a FE/HE institution.

Every year this institution runs a business idea competition and I submitted an idea of a gym with childcare facilities. I know it's not exactly inventing fire nor a new concept but we have nothing similiar in our area or surrounding areas, though on speaking with one baby group I feel the demand is there.

I have to do a presentation in a week's time (turnaround time of thewhole thing has been v short) and so I wondered if I could ask you Mners a few questions on the concept.

Do you use or would you want to use a gym with childcare facilities?

I am proposing a high intensity 30 min workout to minimise additional childcare costs to users - is this something you would be interested in?

I am proposing (on speaking with GP friend who is a specialist in PND) offering our service to local medical practices so that GPs can make NHS referrals to a personal trainer I would have on site. NHS guidelines currently state that this is something GPs are now doing - is this something you would feel beneficial to the concept as a whole?

I wont ask about prices as these vary wildly throughout the country but any feedback you could give on the concept would be greatly appreciated!

Wow, congratulations!

Start simple and build it up and I'm sure you will do brilliantly.

Oh, and if you limit it to a 2 hour session with the parents staying on site, you don't have to deal with OFSTED.

The gym I belong to uses a private nursery next door (interlinking door) as a crèche. You can book your child in for as many hours as they have available, this is a bit hit and miss, and they are closed at weekends. I'd use them a lot more if they were open on weekends. The gym itself used to run a holiday club for older (4-12 yr) children, which was great for me and DS, but they have stopped now. Says there was no demAnd, even though it was always full.

I used to use a Virgin Active crèche and found it a lifesaver. They had a babies room separate from toddlers so you felt safe leaving a baby.
The staff must have been well treated because other than maternity leave there was almost no turnover during the seven years we were members of the gym.
Thirty mins - as others have mentioned - is a very short slot. One of the things I really enjoyed was having a leisurely shower and going my hair afterwards without having to think about anyone/anything else.
I think linking with a yoga class is a brilliant idea, I really needed some mindful time.
In fact the HIIT is kind of a good idea, except some mothers need just some quiet time to get their brains back together - is it possible to offer a range of options? I think at virgin we could book slots from 1-2 hours starting at 15 minute intervals (if that makes sense) which made life easy, but may have been challenging to organise.
Good luck with it, I think it's z great idea.

All this feedback is priceless thank you!!

I was saying to the judges last night (award presented by head of a rather big global company eek!) that I would never have had the confidence a year ago to do something like this.

I've revised timings and my major thing is having consistent care. Having spaces to do classes is a brill concept and something I would look to do once we have established the business in the first instance.

Socksrockthank you this is something I will research!

My trial option (eg to run a study as to how ppl viewed the service) is as such:

My parents live v close to the independent gym I currently attend and have parking for 2/3 cars. I don't work Tues or Thurs so I would look to reg myself as a cminder and trialling the service for these 2 days a week (my parents are out at work these two days so wouldn't affect them but would obvs need their approval to let other children in to their home). Does this sound like a viable trial option?

If I give you a layout of my parents' house it's perhaps easier to judge: it is a 5 bed bungalow with outdoor space (no ponds etc) and 2 living rooms; it has just been refurbished from when they bought it so new facilities within and also a new landscaped garden (my dm has been getting rid of any plant that may pose a risk to a child since they moved - it is a BIG garden).

There are 2 x travel cots (My dsis and I had dc1 at same age; dsis went on to have dc2), 2 x bouncers; a jumperoo; bumbos and highchairs etc.

I feel we would we well stocked to trial the concept there with the gym in 2 mins walking distance (or ample parking if not want to walk?)

All feedback so greatly appreciated!