Community-based low-cost childcare providers are also having to raise their prices to keep up with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Active Allsorts based in Irvinestown is a project managed by the Arc Healthy Living Centre and provides low-cost childcare in the community.

A non-for-profit organisation, they had to increase their fees by £1 to £13.50 a day for the after-school programme they offer. During the school holidays, the full rate is £27 a day.

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Manager, Lorraine McNulty said: “As we are non-profit, we try and try to keep our prices down as much as possible. We hadn't raised our prices in years and years. And then we said we had to and the parents were very understanding.”

Part of the offering is allowing for some flexibility for parents: “We know people are struggling. We have been working with parents and since Covid, a lot of people are working from home, so it's been more flexible in that they can change their days at short notice.”

One way costs are kept down is by collecting children from their schools in a walking bus where they can walk from school to the after-school club.

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Lorraine says there has been a rise in the demand for services such as Active Allsorts: “People are definitely worried about childcare and we have found that we are getting busier, there are more people looking for places here as we are more affordable.”

She praises the support from parents who often donate toys that children no longer use.

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And she believes the programme offers “competitive” prices.

“We would say we are pretty competitive here for prices, you know, we're not extortionate by any means, but it's just sustaining that. You try and keep your costs to a minimum. We have been very lucky in we have done it and we are hopefully succeeding in riding the storm.”

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