Blue Button Childcare

03/02/2026

Hello! I have just launched the Friendly Childminders’ Hub - it’s a warm and welcoming members-only community where registered childminders can connect with people who genuinely understand the role, whilst accessing reliable information and dependable support.

I wanted to create a safe space that goes beyond the confines of social media to support all the remarkable childminders across the UK, so they feel valued, less alone, more confident and better equipped to run their fabulous childminding businesses within their local communities.

https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com

Whilst parents cannot access the Hub, they will find lots of great information on its accompanying website in a dedicated area, including help to find the right childminder and to understand funding etc….

https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com/parents-area

Parents, you must be here because you know how fabulous childminders are, but if you’re looking for more reasons why you should choose a childminder, here are 100 of them…

https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com/100-reasons-to-choose-a-childminder

Childminders are truly remarkable and you deserve support in a professional capacity that goes beyond the confines of social media! You deserve the Friendly Childminders’ Hub!

08/01/2026

8 years ago today I opened my doors for the first time and what an adventure it was!!!

I really miss childminding and feel sad not to have a house filled with laughter, curiosity and the pitter patter of dinky feet, but I hope so much that the Friendly Childminders’ Hub will enable me to support childminders across the UK so they can spend more time supporting their mindees!

Friendlychildmindershub.com

💚💗💙💛

❤️❤️

09/05/2025

Today I dropped off my final set of childminding resources to a family that has been with me since day one, right through to the last! 🥰

Blue Button started when I met their eldest as a very dinky baby in the Winter of 2017 and today I had cuddles with their youngest, who is an honorary lifetime member of the BB Crew! 🐭🐫🐊🐯

Childminding has been an absolute privilege and I am very lucky to have scooped up some forever families, who are always welcome at my house - I’ve kept a couple of boxes of my mindees’ all time favourite resources for them! My home is their home! 🏡

Now is the time to close this page as I am now working full time on the Friendly Childminder’s Hub and can be reached through there!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1EU2QkAEz8/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The website will be live later in May and the Hub itself will be launching this Summer!

friendlychildmindershub.com

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

22/04/2025

And so it begins, with mixed feelings of missing my mindees, but excitement for what’s to come…

For many years, both as a teacher then as a childminder, today has been about welcoming back children for the start of a Summer Term filled with child led activities and glorious adventures!

Today, is very different and that comes with mixed feelings! I closed my setting permanently before the Easter holiday, and this morning there won’t be any mindees ringing my doorbell ready for a hug and our breakfast rap!

Instead, I am about to start work on the Friendly Childminders’ Hub full time! It’s a dream come true, but my word, my house is far too quiet and I miss the children!

I’ve been building the Hub in the background for the last couple of years around family, childminding and my paperwork business! It’s been slow going and I had hoped it would be ready by now! But if you’re part of my Facebook group, Friendly Childninders, you’ll know I am also a stickler for details, I like to provide information from the ‘horse’s mouth’, and I want to create the best support network that I can! It will be worth the wait!

This is the right time to take a leap of faith to work on the Hub full time and I’ll have it out as soon as possible! The website will be available in the next few weeks, and that will share exactly what the Hub is about! After that, the Hub will be launched before September! I’m excited and nervous to put this out there! I’ve been harping on about it for so long and now it’s all ‘real’!

The childminding sector is often seen as the underdog of the childcare world and there is so much going on right now! Childminders need support with the day to day running of their businesses and they deserve the best!
Childminders ‘wear a lot of hats’ whilst they bridge the gaps within communities and provide the best of both worlds for the families who need them - nurturing educations in home from home settings!

Although I am no longer directly caring for children and that’s sad to experience, I hope that the Hub will help many childminders with whatever they need in both their professional and personal lives, and in turn enable them to further help families across the whole of the UK! 💙

10/04/2025

Love this! My son was my awesome assistant from the ages of 6 to 13! 🥰🥰🥰

🌟 A huge shout out to the unsung heroes of the school holidays… the incredible children of childminders! 🌟

While everyone celebrates the amazing work childminders do (and rightly so!) — there’s a group of quiet heroes who don’t always get the credit they deserve.

These amazing kids share their mums and dads every single day — with babies, toddlers, big kids, and everyone in between 👶🧒👧
They open their homes, their toys, their space… and most importantly, their hearts ❤️

🌟 They become bonus siblings, best friends, peacekeepers, entertainers, snack buddies, and cuddle givers 🧸🍪🎨

They show patience when things are noisy 🔊
Kindness when others need a friend 🤝
And flexibility when their routines get shuffled ⏰

They’re the glue that helps hold it all together —
the smiling faces, the helping hands, the big-hearted legends ✨

They often wait quietly while someone else’s needs are met first — coming second more than they should sometimes 🫣 — and still show up with love ❤️

🥰 So here’s to you, my own beautiful children, and all the childminder children out there — the true heroes of the school holidays 💪
We see you, we appreciate you, and we think you’re absolutely amazing!

04/04/2025

Goodbye from Blue Button Childcare! 💙💙💙

03/04/2025

I’d like to share with you that today was my last day as a childminder! My setting is now closed and I’ve resigned my registration with Ofsted.

I will now be focussing on the Friendly Childminders’ Hub full time and hope to launch it this Summer!

I’d already made the emotional decision to close at the end of Summer term to launch the Hub and oversee extensive building work on our house, but circumstances changed and the stars aligned, meaning the end of Spring Term became the right time to do this!

I didn’t want to share the news until after I closed, so I could pour all my energy into the remaining weeks with my wonderful mindees!

I just can't articulate how important Blue Button Childcare has been to me, how much I've learnt, the memories made and most importantly my love for the children I've cared for during that time!

Childminders care for children as long as they are needed and occasionally, the children become part of their own extended families. I am incredibly lucky to have gained some 'forever families' along the way and made life long friends in their parents.

Being a childminder has been an absolute privilege and after I left the classroom behind, I found myself free to educate and nurture the children in the ways they actually needed and I am so proud of everything each of my mindees achieved!

As well as childminding, I’ve supported others through my paperwork business, childmindingpaperwork.com and my Facebook group, Friendly Childminders, which has over 9700 members and counting! Thank you to my lovely friend for her ongoing support with the group and everything really! Both the paperwork business and the group will continue, but the plan is to eventually bring the paperwork under the Hub’s ‘umbrella’!

It’s all been a bit bonkers really and kept me incredibly busy!

For the last few years, I’ve had a dream to build an online community for childminders that goes beyond the confines of social media in order to provide support, information and connection for childminders across the UK with the day to day running of their businesses.

A couple of years ago, my ever supportive husband, came up with an amazing way to make this online community a reality and I’ve been building it since 2023 around family, work life and all the other things that get thrown at us! It’s been slow going but I believe in it so much.

Childminders are a unique breed of amazing people who ‘wear many hats’ and the lines between our work and personal lives are often blurred! Childminders are regulated, trained and insured childcare professionals who open up their hearts and homes to the families that need them! They follow statutory government frameworks, deliver excellent educations through child led curriculums and many also offer funding and tax free childcare.

Yet despite all the strings to their bows, they are often seen as the underdog of the childcare sector and their needs seem to fall through the cracks sometimes! They deserve better, and through my own experiences and connecting with others, I’m hoping to deliver a solution to help childminders across the UK!

It's been an absolute privilege to be a childminder and my sadness at closing my business is testament to both years of joy and my dedication to jump into the Friendly Childminders' Hub with all I am, and everything I have. 💙

https://www.facebook.com/share/1APkBwWqbX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

03/04/2025

Lunch and an arcade treat at the Trafford Centre! 🥰🥰🥰 3/4/25