Features

My working life ... Children's entertainer

Entertaining children is a combination of education and play for
Jackie Johnstone - no clown costumes required.

Jackie Johnstone is a class leader and party entertainer for Jabberjacks in Leicestershire. As well as delivering educational pre-school lessons and children's parties, she runs the company's franchising businesses.

'I got involved with Jabberjack's after a 20-year career in banking,' she says. 'I set up the Leicestershire franchise with my business partner Verity Graham in 2006. Four years later, we bought the business from its founder. We have nine franchises.

'My job is split between managing the business and delivering classes and parties. We present 45-minute classes at private nurseries during the week, as well as hosting public classes. For these we rent a public venue and invite children during the day. At the weekend we usually deliver four birthday parties - two each day. They can be one or two hours long, and are usually at a customer's home, garden or in a venue they've booked. Both types of activity are educational, but the parties tend to be a bit noisier and we focus more on having fun.

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