Councils go for out-of-school package
Alison Mercer
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
Local authorities across Britain are snapping up a pioneering Scottish-designed computer package which aims to take the pain out of managing an out-of-school club. Christine McGrory and Jacque-line Hughes, the directors of the Motherwell-based group of out-of-school clubs, kidsclubsdirect, launched their 'your club in a box' system in March this year. They have already received 100,000 worth of orders for the package, which includes both software and a PC and covers everything from how to start up a club to management and business planning. It provides guidance on meeting registration requirements and underpinning knowledge for the NVQ and SVQ in playwork.
Christine McGrory and Jacque-line Hughes, the directors of the Motherwell-based group of out-of-school clubs, kidsclubsdirect, launched their 'your club in a box' system in March this year. They have already received 100,000 worth of orders for the package, which includes both software and a PC and covers everything from how to start up a club to management and business planning. It provides guidance on meeting registration requirements and underpinning knowledge for the NVQ and SVQ in playwork.
Ms McGrory said, 'Anyone interested in developing an out-of-school club, whether they have experience or not, faces an awful lot of administration, organisation and management.
'Our software package contains everything a new or existing out-of-school club could need to attract funding and to set up and operate a high-quality club to national standards. It is essentially a "business in a box".
'Running our own clubs helped us realise there was a real gap in the market for this type of system. We have tailored the contents to take the pain out of the administrative tasks and put in invoicing, financial functions made easy and step-by-step guides to all the form filling and management tasks.' Ms Hughes said, 'Our system is so easy to use that it will also address the IT skills gap in the childcare sector.'
East Renfrewshire childcare partnership placed the first order for 'your club in a box', worth 10,000. North Lanarkshire partnership has ordered six packages, worth 20,000, working out as an average cost of about Pounds 3,300 each, with a further 14 to follow.
There have also been orders from Inverclyde, Manchester and Leicester. A further 60 local authorities in England and 15 in Scotland have expressed interest. Prices are negotiated on an individual basis with a discount for bulk orders.
Ms McGrory set up the kids-clubsdirect group in 1996 when she was looking for care for her daughter. Jacqueline Hughes is a qualified primary school teacher. The group now runs six clubs for children aged four to 12 in Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire and was runner-up in the Kids' Clubs Network UK 2000 'best club' award.
For further information contact Ms McGrory on 0845 045 4214 or e-mail info@kidsclubs-direct.com.
