For many mothers in remote Aberdeenshire villages such as Keith and Tomintoul, when the once weekly mobile creche rolls around it's the only chance for them to get time to themselves.
The creches are two of six run by Direct Childcare on behalf of Moray Childcare Partnership. Catering for children from six weeks to 16 years old, they run for two hours in locations that are too rural to sustain a regular nursery.
In both England and Scotland, Ofsted and the Care Commission require all creches to be registered if running for more than two hours a day or six days a year, so they are subject to the same regulatory requirements as all registered childcare settings.
Fiona Ednie is development manager for Direct Childcare, which is based in Inverness and has been running creches since the summer of 2004, catering for the whole of the Highlands and the Moray area. Much of the area covered is rural, with limited childcare facilities. Fiona says, 'Demand led us to begin running the mobile creches. We were receiving requests and decided to act on them. There were unregistered creches running before, but we ensured that they became registered. We have to meet the exact same standards as nurseries.'
Being registered means signing up with the Care Commission and having it visit up to three times a year. Direct Childcare undertakes risk assessments at each event before the creche begins and insists that the staff, who are all trained early years workers, undergo the relevant health, safety and disclosure checks.
The venues employed vary. Fiona says, 'We tend to use community halls, church halls, and sometimes the big hotels.' The reasons mobile creches are requested can be just as varied. 'We cover conferences, parenting courses, literacy courses, hill walking groups - anything at all.'
Although there are no figures available as to how many mobile creches are running in the country, Direct Childcare is inundated with work.
'We had more than 100 creches running in September,' says Fiona. 'We have five vans, and a staff bank of 76 who all get regular work.'
Help for parents
At the Greater Govan mobile creche in Glasgow, the focus is on providing temporary childcare for families in low-income areas. It was set up in July 1989 as an Urban Aid project and is one of three run by Glasgow City Council.
Initially catering for the Greater Govan area, the creche is now available to parents in nearby areas, though priority is still given to those in Govan. Elizabeth Carey, acting officer in charge, says, 'We work with various groups - the local social work department, the health board and with One Plus. Projects could be creches for parents attending a rehabilitation programme, or for outreach workers in the community, or they could be in local schools for parents attending Primary One inductions with older children or those going to school board meetings or parents' nights.'
The projects tend to be short-term. But merely having a mobile creche ensures that childcare is available for parents who need it, at a place that's convenient for them as a group. It also helps to ensure a high attendance rate at courses specifically set up to help parents.
Organising the venue is left up to whoever is hiring the creche, but the Greater Govan services asseses the accommodation to ensure it meets health and safety regulations, fire risk conditions, and Care Commission requirements.
Regular clients
The rules are the same for childcare providers Kidcare Ltd, who offer a mobile creche facility throughout Scotland. 'We contact the Care Commission in Glasgow, as well as the locality we are going to,' says chief executive Rita Hopper. 'We perform a risk assessment on each new premises we go into, and are inspected regularly.'
Kidcare began running mobile creches 15 years ago by popular demand. It has built up a good client base.
Rita says, 'Some of our clients come and go, but we do have quite a few who use us on a regular basis. A lot of our business is from conferences, usually large organisations in the voluntary sector. We could be required to cover training or AGMs. Having a mobile creche benefits organisations putting on events on a one-off basis.
'Costing is based on what the client wants and on the ages of the children.
We use qualified nursery nurses and playworkers. Because this is only part of our business we don't have permanent workers, but use sessional staff.'
Business is certainly booming, with a constant supply of projects. Rita says, 'We are working with Renfrewshire Council and the Working for Families Fund at the moment to establish a mobile creche for families trying to get back into employment and attending training.
The creche would be permanent but would move throughout Renfrewshire, depending on where it is needed. It will employ permanent staff.'
Anytime, anywhere
Milton Keynes-based Nipperbout has also been running mobile creches for nearly 15 years. It promise to be able to offer a creche 'anywhere, anytime, indoors or outside'.
Janthea Brigden is co-owner of Nipperbout with her husband Steve. 'We cover most of the main political conferences, corporate events, trade union conferences, folk festivals and rock events such as the Phoenix Festival,'
says Janthea. 'The creche could be for two children for the weekend, or 150 children for ten days.'
As with all mobile creches the venue varies, but Nipperbout has some sites that are visited regularly. For these venues Nipperbout can ensure that they have pre-arranged clearance with Ofsted. The 18 Ofsted registrations include the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Earl's Court and Olympia in London, Harrogate International Centre, Bournemouth International Centre, the Brighton Conference Centre and the Sage in Gateshead.
Nipperbout is also registered with the Care Commission, which allows it to work anywhere in Scotland under its slightly different regulations.
'In Scotland the Care Commission wants a higher qualification for managers than in England, and it insists that everyone fills in a Disclosure Scotland form,' says Janthea. 'Also, in Scotland staff require a letter from their GP qualifying them to work with children, and wherever we hold the creche, local fire officers have to be informed of the creche taking place.'
The biggest downside, she says, is keeping up with all the rules and regulation, but Janthea feels that they are making headway with Ofsted. 'It used to be that we were inspected by Ofsted every time we moved rooms within a building, but Ofsted has now dropped that in registered buildings.
Ofsted also now has a list of our core staff at their headquarters, making inspections of staff slightly easier.'
Under the terms of registration for mobile creches, providers must inform Ofsted in writing on EYL1012 forms, of any creches taking place and where they will be held. A letter of exemption for insurance purposes is then sent. The letter states the name of the room and that is the only one which the mobile creche is supposed to operate from.
But Janthea and Steve ensure that they are always on top of things. 'If we didn't have a core staff team, the risk factors would be higher. We always have a briefing on the client beforehand, so that staff who have not worked together before get to know each other, to give staff a rundown on the children, and to go over procedures. Also, team leaders receive a day's training.'
Things may become simpler if plans put forward by the Department of Education and Skills are put in place. Recognising the huge amount of red tape for providers subject to Ofsted registration requirements, the DfES now has proposed that the level of regulation is not justified by the possible risks involved. It is proposed that, in future, creches would be able to apply to the Ofsted Childcare Register and so reduce the number of inspections - a move that many mobile creche providers would welcome. NW
