19th March 1993 SN

Helping out Working mums

For working parents the search for reliable child care to bridge the gap between the end of the school hours and the finish of the business day can be a major headache.

Now a new childcare service based in Sandon and serving Stone and the north of Stafford aims to solve the problem.

Superkidz, founded by mother of three Shirley Withington, provides both a full and part time nursery for two to five-year-olds at the Sandon Village Club, and also a service to collect primary school age children from school and look after them until mum or dad finishes work in the evening.

Shirley explained: “Parents are naturally very worried about leaving their children unattended, but it can be difficult to find reliable after-school care.

“The New Children’s Act means that childminders caring for children up to the age of eight now have to be registered, and a number have given up because they can’t be bothered with the bureaucracy involved.

“Parents often have to depend on the mums of their children’s schoolfriends to look after them, but they can feel awkward about imposing on them.

“As a mum myself I know the problems and felt I could help to provide a solution.”

Superkidz has places for 15 school age children, as well as a 20-place nursery. It also offers ‘sanity breaks’ of a couple of hours for harassed mums to get their shopping done without a toddler in tow.

Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD