The organisation launched in April 2003. The rapid expansion was made possible by an investment from Futurebuilders, a Government-funded loan scheme to help the voluntary sector deliver more public services.
As well as a wide range of activities the clubs offer an IT program, Schoolfriend, which assists children with literacy and numeracy. An evaluation of the scheme by the Institute of Education at the University of London last year found that the children had made significant gains in maths and reading.
Co-founder Amanda Argent puts Cats Club's success down to market research and its ability to tailor the basic club model to parents' and children's needs.
Ms Argent added, 'We go into schools and say that we can help them to be an extended school in accordance with the Government agenda, but we will do it all for them - there is no burden on them to run, recruit or manage the clubs.
'We hope to become an accredited NVQ training centre to combat the problem of staff recruitment. We can then take on unqualified staff and train them.
They will receive work-based training and be guaranteed a job at the end of it. This will enable us to train our own staff in the way we want. We also offer good career paths in the organisation.'
For more information see www.catsclub.org.uk or www.
futurebuilders-england.org.uk.
