CHANGE - Childcare and Nurture Glasgow East
CHANGE (Childcare and Nurture, Glasgow East) is a project led by Children in Scotland (CiS) and partnered with the GCPH, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Out-of-School Care Network and Thriving Places. Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, the project has been working with communities in the east of Glasgow since October 2016.
CHANGE staff have spoken to more than 150 families living in the area about childcare, and in particular, any barriers they may face when trying to access services. During this time, the cost of childcare has been the most frequently mentioned of these barriers. The December 2018 analysis of the cost of childcare in these communities explores the significant cost of using childcare and the impact this has on families.
In addition to engaging with families, the ‘CHANGE Hub’ was established by the project to bring together organisations working with families to share ideas, concerns, good practice and innovation using the Children and Young People’s Improvement Collaborative methodology. The Hub is supported by a Scottish Government Improvement Adviser. There are currently 19 core members of the Hub with several of these contributing to working groups. The aim is to lead change at a local level which will reduce barriers to accessing childcare. Current tests of change are underway to support services to access low-cost quality food options and increase uptake of holiday provision.
Our evaluation
We are the evaluation partner in CHANGE. Now in its third year, the evaluation is focusing on the impact CHANGE is having on access to and use of quality childcare services by families and children; the cost of childcare and the impact on families; parent/carer experiences of engaging with extended nursery hours; any wider community benefits for local people and for businesses; and what difference is it envisaged that the Hub will make to the provision of childcare locally.
A profile of children’s circumstances, socio-demographic trends and general health in the CHANGE Childcare Pathfinder project area was produced in the first year of the evaluation, in order to provide an overview of the project area.
The Year One Evaluation Report contains three components: an area profile including an overview of childcare provision; findings from research with parents and carers in the CHANGE area; and, findings from research with professionals working within the CHANGE area.
An internal document evaluating Year Two is available on request from the authors.
The Year Three Evaluation Report was published in in two parts: the quantitative component described childcare care provision within the CHANGE project area; summarised the use of childcare services in relation to different demographic dimensions in comparison with Glasgow as a whole; and compared and summarised the cost of childcare at different ages and by type of childcare provider. The qualitative component explored the expansion of early learning and childcare in the CHANGE area.
In 2019 we also published a summary of childcare in the CHANGE area. Further reports will be added in the next few months as the evaluation draws to a close.
Our other work related to CHANGE includes the evaluation of the Stepping Stones for Families Family Wellbeing Service, citizenship in the early years, and exploring parenting support in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.