A small business owner has urged parents to sign up for the Welsh Government's Childcare Offer before the autumn term starts.
Lisa Jones, who runs Y Diod café in Llandeilo, said the Childcare Offer was easy to apply for and has made a huge difference to her life.
Since we've had two children and learned about the 30 hours of funded childcare a week, it's made a huge difference to our lives.
Being self-employed, it has made a massive difference ensuring I can return to the café sooner after giving birth.
I would urge people to sign up for it, as the support you get is invaluable. We are so grateful for Twts Tywi, who are so helpful with the process and making sure we are aware of what's on offer to parents.
The Childcare Offer provides up to 30 hours of funded early education and childcare for parents in work, education or training with children aged 3 to 4.
It aims to help parents from across Wales return to work, increase their hours or work more flexibly.
Around 20,000 children are supported each year through the Childcare Offer for Wales.
To be eligible for the Childcare Offer, parents and guardians must:
- have a child aged 3 or 4 years old
- live in Wales
- each parent has a gross income of £100,000 or less per year
- be employed and earn at least, on average, the equivalent to 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage or Living Wage
- or be enrolled on either an undergraduate, postgraduate or further education course that is at least 10 weeks in length
Carmarthenshire nursery Twts Tywi, which has received a number of accolades including being one of the best nurseries in Wales, is a Childcare Offer for Wales provider. Caryl Thomas, managing director and owner of Twts Tywi Nursery in Llandeilo, recently said:
The Childcare Offer allows parents to have significant choices as to where their children attend.
We work with local schools in the area to provide a wrap-around service to help parents more with childcare.
The funding available to us as a business has allowed essential works to be carried out to the facilities, enabling children to freely choose among a number of quality resources to explore within our environments, creating strong foundations to build confident individuals and successful learners.
Foster carers and kinship carers (relative or friend who is not a child's parent) may also be eligible for funded early education and childcare, providing they meet the parental eligibility criteria.
To be eligible during term time and school holidays, your child must be one of the following:
- 3 years old and eligible for early education in line with the school admissions policy in your local authority (this is normally the term after your child turns three, but may be later). If you are able to access early education before this, you will not be eligible for the offer until the term after your child turns three.
- 4 years old and not eligible for a full-time education place in the local authority in which you live.
Applications for the Childcare Offer for the autumn term are now open.