David Lock

Our completely broke daughter is now doing a 2-year course at London uni and renting a flat in Tooting. She needs to earn some dosh and was thinking about babysitting in local area. She’s a 23-year-old graduate with experience of working with kids and had to have a CRB check for her uni course as she spends some research time in schools.

But she knows no one in Tooting and needs some advice on how to get started. So does anyone know the babysitting routine, especially in a London environment please?

Will some ads in local shop windows work or would people rather get a sitter from an agency, for example.

What is going rate and is it common practice to ask to be taken home late at night or have a pre-paid black cab booked?

Any sensible advice welcome. Many thanks, David

Trout

iTrader: (1)

We got two of our babysitters from an agency and our nanny from an Au Pair website.

I would not expect to have to pay for a cab home.

I would recommend registering with agencies and once established with one to two clients build on word of mouth as that is the best source of babysitting. Even with an agency she will get paid the same as the client pays the agency fee separately.

Fat Boy

If she has the CRB then I would probably try the (nice) local primary or pre prep/prep schools to be honest to see if they were prepared to put a little ad up somewhere or put her details in their daily newsletter to parents (as per the one we get here in SE London)as that way you can kind of pick the demographic you might be working for by choosing the school carefully. Tooting is a funny place in that it's made up of a spectrum that ranges from seriously wealthy upper middle classers to seriously rough types and I'm sure you'd prefer that she was working late at night somewhere pleasant and safe - shop windows might work if she picked a posh coffee shop type thing or flower shop sort of thing.Ordinary rough corner shop might get responses that you wouldn't want to follow up on perhaps.

Most of our babysitters came via word of mouth from other parents or now from sharing aupairs ( so to speak )

Going rate in Lonon is circa £8 per hour, I would normally walk them home if nearby or drop them home if the other half or I wasn't bladdered.

Unusual to do the cab thing (firstly as £8 an hour soon racks up and another £15 or whatever in the cab isn't nice) as usually either you or the wife has won the argument over who's driving or drinking as per above so one of the parents is usually compos mentis, but also it's pretty usual to have babysitters who live nearby given the density of housing / families in town.

Hth

FB

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I'd suggest this

a friends wife tried setting up on her own ads in local paper,car etc and had very little interest, she joined an agency, made a name for herself then set up again and poached the customers.

hodgy0_2

try the gumtree or craigslist

http://www.gumtree.com/london/4745_1.html

David Lock

That's really helpful guys - big thanks

Pretty much along the same lines as we have been thinking. I would be insistent that she doesn't end up walking home at 2 in the morning through Balham/Tooting area. She would also be carrying a laptop and phone which won't help.

I lived in Battersea, which is pretty close, 20 odd years ago but on a recent visit I saw it had been tarted up and and housed a few rich kids so might target that patch.

She'll try the shop window and schools thing but I'll try and find some agencies as well. Google mostly throws up Nanny/Au Pair stuff.

£40/£60 quid a week would be a huge help to her

Cheers, David

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Places like the ones below are the best bet. People tend to pay better if its from a trusted agency.
Be careful the Mods might see this thread as "a blatant advert" and delete it. They did the same to me when I asked for advice.


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