Both Anne-Marie Dunn and Fraser Quin were parents with children at after-school clubs when, seeing the opportunity for more clubs in the Edinburgh area, they decided to establish Kidzcare. The company was set up in January 2000, and in August 2002 they opened their first club for children with special needs at St Crispin's school in Edinburgh.
Fraser Quin explains how the idea came about. 'There was an autistic boy in one of our after-school clubs and his mum was desperate for a club to be set up for children with special needs. She approached us and we got into talks with the school. We were a bit nervous at first, as we didn't have a great deal of experience of working with disabled children.'
Filling the places did not prove to be hard, and there has been plenty of demand. 'We can accommodate 12 children at the moment, and we are considering increasing the capacity.'
Because of the higher staffing costs involved with special needs, more funding than usual was required. Most of it came from the New Opportunities Fund and the local childcare partnership. But although the funding was there, it was not all plain sailing.
Fraser recalls, 'When we applied for National Lottery funding, we had to go ahead with plans assuming that our bid would be successful, but knowing that at the eleventh hour we could be turned down after raising everyone's hopes.'
Because of the nature of the club, Kidzcare was subject to especially close scrutiny from Scotland's Care Commission. It had the advantage of being based in a special needs school, so facilities had already been specially adapted. Staff, however, did require extra training. 'We obviously need to train our staff in essential skills such as gastric feeding and rectal diazepam administration,' explains Fraser. 'We have ongoing training in autism awareness, and epilepsy awareness.'
Fraser appreciates that they did well to gain funding when they did. 'There is a finite amount of money within the area and we have been approached by two further projects wanting us to find funding and manage things for them.
I suspect it is going to be quite difficult to do this now in the current financial climate.'
While after-school clubs are opening all the time, there is still a shortfall of after-school care for children with special needs, which Fraser Quin thinks is because people feel it is too hard a project to tackle. 'Parent committees have enough demands on their time, including looking after their own special needs children. An after-school club is seen as an extra burden.'
At St Crispin's school, the attitude was different. The school board had been actively looking for someone to start up such a club. Rosie Wilson is a parent on the school board. 'We were very impressed with Kidzcare,' she says. 'They were enthusiastic, and willing to listen to the parents'
needs.'
Rosie's daughter Rachel also attends the club, and she is well aware of the benefits Kidzcare has brought to Rachel's life. 'Rachel is 14 and is now at an age where there are fewer options, even in mainstream clubs. At Kidzcare she has achieved a sense of independence, taking up new interests for herself, and playing with the other youngsters.'
It is obvious to all of Rachel's family that she gets a lot from the club.
'She is always very desperate to go to the club, and won't go to sleep the night before - she is that excited,' says her mother.
For many of the parents it was a relief to find a suitable place where their children could go. Rhona Gallagher's son Ryan is 13 and has autism.
'My husband died two years ago and as a working mother I found it difficult to find somewhere for my son to go on a Friday, when he finishes school at lunchtime. I wanted to find somewhere that would be interesting for him and also safe and not just someone's house, but more importantly, someone that understood his special need. When the club opened it was a wonderful relief to be able to find a safe and secure environment, where excellent personnel respect his special need and where they genuinely care for the children and they seriously enjoy what they do.'
Rhona Gallagher feels that there are distinct advantages to a club specifically for children with special needs. 'The staff are very aware of the needs of the children, and they have been highly trained, so the children get lots of attention and sometimes one-to-one attention. The children benefit by being with personnel who have knowledge and also understanding of their condition.'
For Rhona, the small size of the club is also important. 'This is much more beneficial for my son, as he gets the attention that he needs.'
At the club Ryan enjoys activities such as swimming and walking. Kidzcare is lucky to be able to use the school's excellent facilities - a sensory room, a library, a swimming pool and a soft play area.
Although there is no set schedule, some sort of routine is necessary to allow the children to prepare themselves. 'We vary the programme weekly, usually swimming twice a week. Other activities include a climbing wall, soft play centres, Scotland Yard (an Edinburgh activity centre), then less formal things like the shops, parks, or going for walks. Indoors we do art, sport and music therapy activities on a regular basis. We also have computers and TV and video.'
Links have also been established with mainstream Kidzcare clubs. 'It is a two-way thing, with clubs visiting each other,' explains Fraser. 'Most of the children at the St Crispin's club socialise with one of our other clubs, probably on a weekly basis. Not all of the children at St Crispin's would be happy mixing, but one boy who is autistic goes to both clubs.'
When the charity Barnardos recently published Still Missing Out, a report looking into the lives of families with disabled children, high on the list of concerns was a lack of affordable childcare. 'After-school clubs for disabled children are difficult to start up,' says Neera Sharma, the report's author. 'A higher proportion of carers are needed, and to gain a place the parents, not the children, have to be assessed. This angers parents.'
Many fear that the Government's aims of getting more parents into work are unattainable when childcare for the disabled is still so scarce. Earlier this year, Sure Start pledged to help parents of disabled children to get back to work by providing more financial support and increasing the supply of qualified childcare staff. Children with disabilities are twice as likely to live in low-income households, but less than 3 per cent of Government funding for local early years partnerships is aimed directly at supporting disabled children.
Kidzcare now runs 14 different facilities, and has taken over the provision of holiday playschemes at Oaklands school for special needs in Edinburgh.
The founders of Kidzcare are sure that the time and effort it took to establish the club at St Crispin's was all worthwhile. 'The feedback from parents has been fantastic,' says Fraser. 'The club has been a huge success from our point of view and from that of the parents. Parents have said that it has allowed them to go back to work and to get a bit of respite. Most importantly, it has helped the children too.'