Childsplay re-opened as a co-op and recently celebrated its 21st birthday.
Gifts underlined the nursery's ethos - children were given teddy bears wearing Childsplay T-shirts, staff received a glass key engraved 1982-2003, and parents were presented with a decorated box containing seeds and the motto, 'Nurture these seeds as we nurture your children.'
Diane says, 'Parents become members of the co-op when they register their child. Staff become members after six months continuous employment. All members have voting rights. There is an executive committee of four parents and six staff, which meets once a month.'
Day to day running is delegated to manager Veronica Welsh and Diane. A parent acts as treasurer.
Diane says, 'Once a quarter the executive committee meets the whole membership when we give a break down of operations, the finances, how the business plan is going, how any development work is going and how we are addressing any difficulties.'
In the early days attendance was high at members' meetings, when parents were buoyed up by the co-op launch, but numbers have fallen. Recently the quorum was cut. 'The parents are all busy people. We have tried all sorts of ways to attract them to meetings. We think they must be happy with the way things are going. They are kept well informed and get minutes of the meetings.'
If staff have an idea for a new initiative, basic research is done and then it is presented to the membership and discussed and further research is done.
'When the nursery was set up, the parents wanted the best for their children, and that means having a high-quality staff team. Our pay and conditions of service are comparable with the local authority. We feel parents have an understanding of the commitment of the staff because they are so closely involved. They respect us as professionals,' says Diane.
