Paying for AfterSchool Childcare

[dh1]

I'm currently trying to sort out the finances of our local After School Group and I was wondering if any of you ladies out there have particular experience of finding ways of getting help with paying for AfterSchoolCare.

I am aware of the Family Tax Credit scheme - but I've heard stories of it being difficult to navigate - but "on paper" it looks to me like a very useful scheme to help parents who are on lower incomes to be able to afford the cost of childcare. So anybody got experience of this sort of assistance - good or bad - I'd be delighted to hear of it. Particularly if anybody knows of the existence of a genuine "Easy to Understand Guide to Childcare Support via Family Tax Credit" sort of thing would be great!

Also, I"m looking at the sort of costs people are paying for such a service - both Private and "Publicly Supported" so if anybody has got any information which they might think helpful - pile it on.

I'm in Scotland, so I have already looked at the Out of School Network website and am exploring that - but anybody who's got a good source of "how to structure fees for AfterSchool Projects" again, would be very helpful.

Tips & hints, things to watch out for etc, all contributions gratefully received.

The after school club I use is paid for by a standing order set up in September and fees are divided into 11 parts - last payment July (or end of June if first payment was end of August) Either way you get a 'free' month - which is good because as a working mum you are of course paying out mega bucks for the summer holiday childcare.....this is the sort of thing which is v easy to arrange and would I think be very much appreciated by parents.
Also - do you have any large employers who would have a significant proportion of employees using the club - they might pay a subsidy which you can pass on. I get 5% off because my (public sector) employer does this.

Thanks for this - SueW, I'll have a proper look at the vouchers, I have heard of them but I've also heard a few people complain about the bureaucracy involved with them.

northernlurker - your idea of standing orders sounds a very sensible one... I'm also interested in your comments about shelling about mega bucks for holiday childcare. One of the "problems" we have in our OOSC is that although it is dirt cheap, it has been for a while now and people have got used to it and don't realise just how cheap it is. (£40 for holiday weeks and that includes all trips, usually 4/wk, thrown in.) For my info - what sort of costs are you talking about?

My company uses Care4. I haven't had any problems with them. but I imagine there's more paperwork on the carer's side of things.

We use those childcare vouchers to pay for after school care and holiday club and childminder care. It's a bit of a faff setting it up, DP and I have different schemes in our two workplaces, and the after school clubs etc have to set up acounts for each different scheme. I don't see why it has to be set up in such a cumbersome bureaucratic way. But once it's been set up it works, and it saves a lot of money, well worth doing.

Hi dh1
£40 for the week! So £8 a day then - right well last years fees were: £87.50 for full week and £18.50 for a day, £10 for 1/2 day. Sibling places were about 10% less per child and there are some employer discounts which I benefit from as well. Has been nice this year not to need it though as I have been on m/l with no 3!

The after school club is around £8 per child per day I think - again I get both sibling and employer discount and pay monthly so tbh I can't remember exactly. Certainly sounds like your club is v cheap - no wonder the finances need sorting

Hi northernlurker - yup you got it in one. One question for you, does your OOSC get any grant support from anywhere - or is it "Private"?

I ask, because it's been suggested that the previous grant support has coloured a lot of perception re our OOSC.

As I say, it's £40 for the holidays i.e. fo 10 hour days - and that's got trips thrown in too. Ridiculously cheap if you ask me.

I'm not totally sure but I would guess it is entirely private - may have had some grant support to set it up perhaps but that is over 5 years ago so I don't really know - sorry. Certainly it is administered by a private company.