CYP Now - Feature - Childcare: Affordable childcare for parents

Lack of affordable childcare is one of the barriers that prevents parents returning to work. Chloe Stothart visits a scheme in Hackney that is subsiding childcare costs for low-income families.

Subsidised childcare has helped families in London

Lone parent Shona* was keen to start a career but she struggled to find affordable childcare for her 18-month-old daughter while she was studying.

"I was desperate because I wanted to get into training," she says. However, she eventually spotted an advert for a subsidised childcare scheme from The Learning Trust, which runs education services in Hackney. The scheme promised to pay for a nursery place while she was studying her youth justice course and took on voluntary work in the sector.

After viewing several nurseries, Shona chose the Fire Station Community Nursery in Stoke Newington. Her daughter has been there for 10 months now and seems very much at home, playing with a plastic tea set in the brightly coloured room full of toddlers and nursery staff.

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