au pairs outside London

[Carriel]

One of my friends was asking me for advice on au pairs - I've never had one but know a lot of folks who have, but all in London. She lives in Worcester with three boys and a girl and wants someone asap as she has a job starting next term teaching.

can anyone recommend a good agency ? Also have you any suggestions, advice on the pitfalls, what to look out for, what to ask about in advance etc?

All and any advice welcome

Have you checked the Going back to work: Au Pairs thread?? I know there was alot of discussion about them then. I also contributed various bits & pieces to it (going under the name of MotherofOne then... before DS2 arrived) and offered to mail our 'Rules' and list of questions, and also standard invitation letter which they often need to take to their embassy for a Visa.
We're just about to get our 2nd Au Pair - but she is the sister of a friend's previous au pair - we've never used agencies - just contacts/ word of mouth. I'm not aware of national agencies - most are regional I think?
Let me know if there are specific questions and I'll post again...

I often see au pair agencies advertised in local free "family" magazines. Which I get at playgroup or nursey or pre-school.

Hope that helps.

The Lady magazine is useful for finding nannies/au pairs and isn't exclusive to London. Worth a try?