Clybiau Plant cymru Kids' Clubs

Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs exists to help communities in Wales by promoting, developing and supporting quality, affordable, accessible Out of School Childcare Clubs.

The objects for which the Charity is established are to:
a) Promote the care and education of children in Out of School Childcare Clubs and to promote the provision of facilities for the play, recreation and other leisure time occupations of such children in the interest of social welfare with the objects of improving their conditions of life.
b) Advance the education and training of persons providing such care and educational and recreational facilities.
c) Conduct research into all aspects of the care, education and recreation of such children and to publish the useful results of such research.

Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs is a voluntary organisation established on 01 October 2001 and is both a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity. The organisation has an elected Board of Trustees and operates on a regional basis with offices in Colwyn Bay, (North Wales); Cross Hands, (West Wales) and Cardiff, (South East Wales).

Out of School Childcare Clubs are set up in local communities, by the local communities. They ensure children aged 3-14 years old are looked after and benefit from positive play opportunities, before or after school, or in the holidays while parents go to work/train. The clubs are in local communities to meet local demands. The clubs are not free but have to be affordable to families as well as sustainable businesses in order to keep running, so there is a cost to the parents or carers, even though this is kept to a minimum. Many clubs are run by voluntary management committees made up of volunteers from the local area which we help and support through setting up and running a successful business, assist with applying for grant funding, training and membership to remain sustainable. The Welsh Government and UK Government’s approach is to support more people into employment which is seen as a way to remove children and families from poverty and support the local economy. Out of School Childcare Clubs are a vital service for those parents who work or attend training, enabling them to extend working hours or gain positive work experience and qualifications.

Local childcare settings offer local jobs and training opportunities often in those areas that are isolated or classed as deprived. In addition these areas often have a high number of childcare settings that are run as unincorporated businesses, which are managed by, in addition to their daytime working roles, committees of working/training parents who require childcare.
From a baseline of 589 clubs in October 2001 Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs has supported growth of 174% in clubs and childcare places across Wales. At the end of March 2016, Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs was supporting 1,616 clubs with 44,527 childcare places.