Maintaining momentum

^{Running a club > Daily management > Maintaining momentum}

There are a number of key areas to keep in mind when ensuring the sustainability of your club. Your ultimate aim is to create a club that is self-funding, using revenue generated by fees allowing you to operate independently of grant funding. The following list of areas should be reviewed on a regular basis to identify possible problems before they become crises:

Accounting
Sound finances are the bedrock of every clubs success. Ensure the club accounts are up to date and review cash flow forecasts on a minimum of a quarterly basis. The person responsible for the accounts (usually the Treasurer) for a quarterly report and make sure you understand them and are satisfied that everything has been accounted for. While the accounts are the Treasurer's responsibility you may also be liable for any costs incurred if the club does not survive.

Staff recruitment
Happy and loyal staff will help to make your childcare facility a pleasant place to be. To retain quality staff, you will need to plan ahead, so that you are able to meet the needs of your staff and keep them loyal, hard-working and motivated. While money is a factor in motivating staff, it is the quality of the work itself, and of the relationships with others at work - that draws employees to the best organisations and keeps them there, performing at peak effectiveness.

Training
Training is an important part of the recruitment-retention cycle and a necessity if you are to meet all the legal requirements. Even your most experienced staff will need to undertake regular training. Training will enable your staff to update their practise, learn about new ideas and provide a better service for parents and children. Training also helps staff to stay motivated, can boost their confidence and can assist you in retaining them in the workplace. As a good practice employer, you should plan to provide all staff with induction training, regular supervision, appraisal and training and development opportunities.

Sheffield Out of School Network provides a wide range of training to help you succeed in your vision. From training in NVQs for playworkers, to short courses in health and safety, to workshops on the liabilities of management committee members - contact us on 0114 249 4941 to find out more about our training programme. A range of discounts are available to members of the Out of School Network.

Providing quality playcare
Staff training is a good step along the road to providing quality childcare. Ensure that your staff feel valued and have the opportunity to contribute their own ideas into your play programme - you may even want to share best practice with other clubs. Find out what parents and children think about the activities you provide, and ask them on a regular basis for their own ideas of what they would like to see. A varied play programme will keep children coming back for more and ensure that parents feel they are getting great value for money.

Maintaining a strong management committee
When your members first joined the committee they were enthusiastic about making a difference to children and families through out of school care. That enthusiasm must be nurtured and maintained. Try to identify and draw on peoples strengths - everyone has something to offer. Ensure your management committee meets on a regular basis (we recommend once a quarter as a minimum) and keep channels of communication with the club well and truly open. Finally ensure that a committee member receives the thanks they deserve for a job well done.

It is inevitable that committee members will leave - try to prepare for this eventuality by keeping a list of interested parents or other members of the community. When conducting surveys on the quality of the care you are providing, take the opportunity to ask whether any parents or carers are interested in serving on the committee, and capitalise on their initial enthusiam.

Numbers of Children
Without children the club will cease to exist! Good quality playcare will help to ensure children want to attend but it is also a good idea to keep on advertising - hand out leaflets for special events, encourage word of mouth referrals and continue to advertise your club on community notice boards. Advertising need not cost the earth - concentrate on targeting your efforts amongst your local community for maximum effect.

Fundraising
There may be times when your cashflow forecast identifies the need for a cash injection. Try to predict these times in advance to give you time to raise the required funds. You can organise fund raising events such as an open day or sponsored event, or apply for sustainabilty funds if you are operating in a disadvantaged area. There may be local pots of money available to your enterprise or you could apply for lottery funding. Contact your business development officer for details of funding sources for Sheffield.

Sheffield Out of School Network are here to help you make your childcare business a success. Contact the Business Development or Training Teams for help and advice with any of the above - telephone 0114 249 4941 or email info@osn.org.uk. We'd be delighted to hear from you.