Contributing with Children is a network of people who want to promote ways in which parents can contribute to wider society whilst caring for their own children.
The network is therefore interesting primarily for those who care for children : mums, dads, grandparents, adoptive parents, legal guardians – whether they care for children full-time, part-time, one day per week, at weekends, holidays or any other arrangement.
We feel that there are many great organisations who want to help parents to continue with their existing job after having children. This is a good thing, but more possibilities are needed because of the variety of different family situations.
Some make an active choice to care for their own children whilst they are small. Others, due to family circumstances or financial reasons, decide to have parent caring full-time. Sadly this is often the case where flexible working options didn’t suit both the employee and the organisation.
Whilst caring for children, many parents manage to do a whole lot, with domestic work just the tip of the ice-berg. Some may feel that they have the drive for more either to earn additional income, gain skills or to remain connected to a profession. Often this fits around children – but could it work alongside?
Contributing with Children aims to promote opportunities for adults, together with the children they care for, to volunteer in their community.
We would also like to see the growth of an additional option for working parents : paid employment available whilst they are caring for their children.
We believe that both volunteering and paid roles would have advantages for many parents and their children – leading to a society where children and the role of a parent are more visible and publicly valued.
So how can you get involved?
As a new network you have the power to share the direction of how it proceeds. We would love to have stories of individuals featured on the blog – particularly explaining your situation and why this initiative appeals to you or examples of volunteering or paid work you have done. Please do get in touch through the ‘contact us’ form if you’d like to contribute.
If you are just happy to like the Facebook page, share us with others who you think might be interested and follow the blog posts because you’re curious to see where we go that is also great.
Contributing with Children 