Features / Childcare Crisis
‘These families need support’ – cost of childcare crisis in Barton Hill
Samira Musse knows from personal experience the difficulties of making ends meet when the cost of childcare rises above wages.
The founder of Barton Hill Activity Club was forced to give up work for a time when her children were born because there was no one to look after them and no affordable provision.
She went on to set up her own childminding business to help families in a similar position and in early 2019, formed the activity club to provide a much-needed place for children to go after school and in the holidays.
is needed now More than ever
But Samira says the problem of the lack of affordable childcare is only getting worse against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis that is hitting some of the poorest families the hardest.
“The area needs support, these families need support,” says Samira, speaking to Bristol24/7 from her office in Lawrence Hill.
She continues: “Children are only happy and succeed in life when they have a good start so if the area had more funding coming in or resources that were sustainable then families would struggle less.
“I know a lot of women who want to do childcare or work in schools or nurseries but they can’t even go to learn those skills because they have children who have nowhere to go.”
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Samira says that even if people could afford to pay high nursery fees, there is also a lack of availability for families in Lawrence Hill and Barton Hill.
It’s one snapshot of an issue that is affecting thousands of families across Bristol and beyond amid calls for systemic reform.
Barton Hill Activity Club runs sessions for children in the area but Samira says families need more support – photo: Ellie Pipe
A March of the Mummies protest is taking place on October 29 to highlight the cost of childcare crisis. Details are available via: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/march-of-the-mummies-2022-bristol-tickets-393019490877
In the run up to the march, Bristol24/7 will be running a series of articles looking at how the cost of childcare crisis is impacting different families in the city.
Main photo: Ellie Pipe
Read next:
- The cost of childcare crisis in Bristol uncovered
- Bristol campaign to highlight cost of childcare crisis
- ‘I’m basically working for free – everything I earn goes on childcare’
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