This is a step-by-step guide, for individuals and institutions, on how to set up an ad-hoc crèche.
***Crèche: A place for drop-in care where babies and children are looked after for a short period while their parent(s)/carer(s) do something else close by. Free and situated in spaces within leisure centres, gyms, art galleries/studios, shopping centres, events spaces, educational settings etc.
WHY?
Childcare is political. Without it, low income, working class people and precarious workers (especially women) are excluded from all sorts of activities, including work, but also leisure pursuits, cultural engagements and political involvement.
Accessible to all. Childcare for everyone, organised in a way that is not prohibitively expensive or income assessed. If you want to come you can. Presume those who don’t really need to access a crèche will not do so.
Children and their carers exist. Caring for children is often socially invisible, undertaken in private or domestic spaces. Ad-hoc crèches make the work of care visible in public and professional spaces beyond the home, nursery and school.
Universal free childcare now!... but in the meantime, an ad-hoc crèche.
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First published in 2024 by Conway and Young Small Press.
Last updated: April 2025
This information was complied from conversations with Toni Mayo and Mike Williams who have run crèches as part of Bristol Transformed.
> Toni Mayo is a radical child protection social worker, revolutionary socialist and Unison activist.
> Mike Williams has been a certified childminder since July 2013. He runs a Forest School in Bristol with his partner Charissa.
If you use this guide and have feedback, please get in touch: conwayandyoung.com
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