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Emma B123
28-05-2010, 09:57 PM
Hi all, im looking into starting a support group in my area. I have been speaking to a few childminders and they would all be keen to go but none of us really know how to go about it.

What usually happens at these groups? What kind of thing do yous discuss? do you find them worth while?

Any advice would be great, Thanks

christine e
29-05-2010, 05:43 AM
your development worker should be the one the help you with this one. You may be able to meet up at your local Children's Centre. The support groups I attend are similar to mother and toddler groups really but we plan our activities around the 6 areas of learning. Our local development worker visits now and again and we are just there for each other if anyone needs support.
If 5 of you are members of NCMA you can apply for a start up grant from NCMA but you will need to have a group bank account to be able to do this.

Good luck

Cx

Emma B123
29-05-2010, 08:41 AM
Thanks, Im from Northern ireland so dont have a development worker. Were pretty much on our own over here. But thanks for the reply

christine e
29-05-2010, 10:28 AM
Thanks, Im from Northern ireland so dont have a development worker. Were pretty much on our own over here. But thanks for the reply

Oh I don't give up that easily!

Take a look at this http://www.nicma.org/cms/for-childminders/groups-a-drop-in-info

there are details of development workers on there that are involved with support groups so maybe it would be worth contacting one of them.

Cx

Alibali
29-05-2010, 11:17 AM
There are two near to me, one is in the evening and it's just the childminders, we meet every 2 months.

The other is a weekly meeting like a toddler group and I find that much more beneficial. Once you get a hall and a few of you get together to discuss what you would like to do it should be easy enough. Try to get some start up grants, we've just had one from the big lottery fund x

terrydoo73
29-05-2010, 08:15 PM
Thanks, Im from Northern ireland so dont have a development worker. Were pretty much on our own over here. But thanks for the reply

Hi Emma, I'm from Northern Ireland and run a Childminding Support Group for Limavady and District. We have been in existence for 4 years. We raised a lot of funds through local charitable concerns and business donations. Initially we had the idea of having a weekly drop in plus a monthly meeting for childminders but a number of childminders in our area (currently 59 in total) do not show any interest - there are 8 core members who have been there since the beginning. We did meet every week up until last June when the premises we were renting became too expensive. Over the past few months we have had a monthly get together for the mindees which has gone really well and we are hoping once the summer break is over to organise similar events. Our main problem is nursery timings - the most local ones finish at 11.15/11.30 am so we have to hold the get together from 10 to 11 am. I do not know if we can advertise our web site on here but if you want the address pm me and I will send the address. NICMA do provide us with a Development Officer but as we are constituted through them we are basically left to get on with it. The Drop-In was run similar to a parent and toddler group with a focus on specific activity each week such as crafts, music and rhyme, story telling etc. The activities we have done this year have included soft play, picnic in the park etc.

Emma B123
29-05-2010, 08:36 PM
Thats great thanks terry. I started a mums and tots in feb in my local community hall and so far its going great. We do all the things you mentioned above and the parents think were great lol. There are 4 childminders including me at my toddlers and a few others in other groups i atteded and talking amongst ourselves we thought it would be good to start a support group in our area and meet up once a month. There is a big one in lisburn for nicma members but i went once and felt very unwelcome so i never went back lol also some of the girls have now changed to MM so they couldnt attend. Any way, we decided we would start in sep so i was just wandering what other people do at there support groups, we dont want anything to formal

Monkey26
29-05-2010, 08:45 PM
Hi Emma,
We have had a few problems getting the right kind of support down in Devon so in Jan i set up an informal group for myself and minding friends.
We meet one evening a month with a topic in mind (risk assessments, policies, psrn, kuw...) everyone brings their relevant folders/documents and we just sit and chat!
It is so beneficial for all of us, lots of cake and tea, no kids...every time i come home with a list of things to adapt or do! It is also great because we do it at a different persons house each month also so you get to have a peek at their houses, playrooms and equipment :jump for joy:
And we are growing too, the first meeting there were just 4 of us, last week 9!!!
Good luck with however you choose to go about it, this is just something that works for us :) xx

Emma B123
29-05-2010, 09:42 PM
Hi Emma,
We have had a few problems getting the right kind of support down in Devon so in Jan i set up an informal group for myself and minding friends.
We meet one evening a month with a topic in mind (risk assessments, policies, psrn, kuw...) everyone brings their relevant folders/documents and we just sit and chat!
It is so beneficial for all of us, lots of cake and tea, no kids...every time i come home with a list of things to adapt or do! It is also great because we do it at a different persons house each month also so you get to have a peek at their houses, playrooms and equipment :jump for joy:
And we are growing too, the first meeting there were just 4 of us, last week 9!!!
Good luck with however you choose to go about it, this is just something that works for us :) xx

This is excectly the kind of group i have in mind, thanks jo jo ill definality be going this direction:) do you quit for the summer or continue through?