Help with childcare

S.D.Blake

Hi again,

Not sure if this is right place to post. Today I had my first Work Search Interview but he was not helpful answering my questions or giving any solutions.

I have enquired into local nurseries in my area and a lot of the ones attached to schools are full, so I have looked at private nurseries - but they all require a full or half a months payment upfront. I am feeling a little tearful and stressed now that I write this. How do I to afford around £550-£1,100 full-time childcare upfront? I know I can claim this back and get 85% paid for me but this does not solve the situation. I'm now terrified that I won't be able to take employment and get sanctioned because I cannot afford to pay childcare in order to go to work.

Some of the jobs I have applied for require an immediate start, I have asked for telephone interviews because I don't think it would look too good if I took my child with me to an interview. I do not have any living family or relatives locally and I have had to be relocated to a new town, so I do not know anyone I can trust to take care of my child. My child turns 4 later this year and should be going to Reception in September.

Does anyone know of any grants or schemes that could help me? Or any advice, thank you

tacpot12

Could your family lend you the money? Could you take out a loan or do you have a credit card that you could use?

Regarding short-term care while you attend interviews, you need to ask around the registered childminders in your area. You should be able to find these via Ofstead or a Childminding Agency. Ringing up the local agencies to ask about the availability of short-term care would problably be a good idea.

If you find that the is no provision in the town, you may just have found your job: setup as a child-minder.

This website might be useful to you: https://childmindinguk.com