Buttercup Lane Childminders

It is an honour and humbling to be nominated for the 2020 Child Friendly Leeds Awards 2020.

Its even more so special thinking that we have actually made the SHORTLIST.

The awards ceremony, which is now in its 7th year is taking place on February 6th, its an event that celebrates the hard work that many people are doing across the city of Leeds to make our City the best place for children and young people to grow up in.

The category that we have made the shortlist in is Adult making a difference for young people (21+), its a real sense of proudness and accolode to be nominated but to be grouped together with everyone nominated let alone making the short list is a very special feeling indeed.

You can see the Yorkshire Evening Post article here .

We are truely thankful to everyone that nominted us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We simply love the job we do, we are part of the community and our children our “The Future” everything we do within the community is for the benefit of the children and if some adults can have some fun along the way, we say Why Not !

We will keep you posted.

Thank you, much love Karl and Lia xx

Imagine if you woke up one morning to discover a letter on your doorstep from someone with an MBE, recognising your hard work and commitments, you can read our letter here.

Dont forget to checkout our fantastic Video Page  – Wonderful memories exploring children and some of our SUPERB activities.

These pages we will continuously update, with our day trips, activities and recording special occasions. Last Updated 23/07/2018

We recently were contacted from Pacey who asked us for permission to use our pictures and feature a little artical of one of our activities. Remember the snow …. then remember our moto ” Come Rain or Shine …. We’ll have a Great Time ”    A little snow did not stop us. So we painted it…. Why not, the children loved it, totally new experience and Pacey thought so too.

The artical appears in the “Childcare Professional Magazine – Spring 2018”

You may seem to remember that we appeared in the magazine a couple of years ago too so this is the 2nd time that we have appeared in it !!!

This magazine has a circulation of between 90,000 and 100,000 4 times a year and its target audiance is ALL CHILDCARE PROFESSIONALS who are members of PACEY.

To see who PACEY are click here   – Pacey Stands for    Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years and we have been members since our registration.

SUPER Proud we are – we love what we do and its absolutley AMAZING that such a highly established organisation such as Pacey recognises the work, time, effort, commitment, passion that we have and want to share it with all of their members.

We are totally overwhelmed. xx

Front Cover of Spring 2018 edition of Childcare Professional Magazine

One of our activities appears in the Sping Edition of Pacey’s Childcare Professional Magazine.

Jan 2018 Update   … Happy New Year.

Well what an end to a year …… 2017 towards the end was a thrill a minute.

We had Leavers, New Starters, finished our Cash for Kids 500 faces campaign in 5^th position with £802.09 & helped 25 553 children as part of #missionchristmas.

Our December brought the usual Christmas activities and festivities especially as the Schools finished early this year.

Peoples circumstances change all the time and we had some real tear jerking moments through the year when saying Goodbye to some of our little “Buttercups”, its never easy and to be honest, it the worst part of been in childcare. We are sure you have heard us say on many occasions “Once a Buttercup Always a Buttercup” and this is so true.   When you finish one chapter of a book you start the next and with the close of the gate, it opens again and our extended family grows even larger, with just as much thrills and excitement. We have some wonderful things plans for 2018 and hopefully we can bring our Buttercups past and present all together in a couple of large events.

We finished the year in 5^th place overall in the Radio Aires 500 faces , after running in 2^nd and 3^rd (and 1^st for a while ) for most of the year we slipped to the still very respectable 5^th position with a grand total of £802.09, this was raised with all the help from our wonderful parents and friends ( Special Mentions at the Bottom )

Mission Christmas 2017 turned out to be one of the most upsetting ever, we had some heart felt real life stories this Christmas that are really upsetting but peoples generosity at a time of hurting was simply overwhelming and that is the spirit of what Mission Christmas is all about. With the help AGAIN of Parents, Neighbours, Friends, Family, Fellow childminders, East Ardsleyians, Friends of Thorpe, STAX PLC, Abraham Moons & Sons,  Adelios of Morley, Neighbours of the Meadowside Estate, Tingley and surrounding areas we collected and donated around 3500 presents, we cant even start to put an estimate of the overall value.

We have registered again for #500faces and we are #2, lets hope we have another successful year.

30 Hours Free Childcare has proved to be a little troublesome especially as LCC had some technical difficulties with their system, hopefully as of LATE JAN all their problems should be sorted out and we will see how NEXT TERM (Summer 2018 ) runs, Get your Codes into us quickly please. If you believe that you qualify for FEEE Funding and/or currently are not Registered for CHOICES, speak to us about it, we can help you.

We hope everyone has a Wonderful 2018 and we all stay in good health.

Love to all Karl and Lia xx

We are at it again folks ….. Radio Aire are requesting 500 faces of Leeds and West Yorkshire to help create a litle competition between the 500 people and organisations to help raise funds for Cash for Kids. This campaign lasts the whole year and will include all our usual yearly events like – Super Hero Day, Cake Making Day and not forgetting Mission Christmas.

We are asking everyone – to follow the link and donate a POUND – More if you can !…. Please click on GIFT AID but dont be anonymous- your helping children of Leeds and West Yorkshire – the children need you.

We have some amazing friends, family, parents, children, colleagues, local companies, local villagers, that we count on for our many campaigns throughout the year for Cash for Kids and this is no exception.

Please when your out save that couple of pounds that you were going to spend on that cup of Skinny Latté or Hot Chocolate with all the marshmelloes on top, drive here to Buttercup Lane Childminders, donate your couple of quid to us for Cash for Kids and we will make you that drink and you can have a piece of cake to go with it, or if you cant wait until then please use the link below to go to our funding page and donate there, dont worry its totally safe, please make sure you leave your name and leave a little message.

https://www.cashforkidsgive.co.uk/campaign/500-faces-aire/fundraisers/karl-stead/

Thank you   and dont forget to use     #Aire500Faces

xx

We are Face 29 of 500 for Radio Aire – Cash for Kids

After months and months of endless diversions and car weaving in and out, reckless people going through red lights, setting off 10 minutes early for every journey – ( just like everyone else ) fuel bills increasing, other hazzardous driving at LONG LAST Its Open…… FALL LANE BRIDGE opened today and we were one of the first few to drive over it. Everyone local is over joyed with the results as it looks really impressive and most importantly SAFE.  We as one of the first few residents on the Meadowside Estate have waited 10 years for this …… Bloor homes promised us that it would be reworked within 3 months of us moving in ( but thats a different conversation.

Even though the bridge is open and it will save on time and money please remain careful as some drivers will forget and STILL DRIVE THROUGH RED LIGHTS, the signs in Thorpe and down Fall Lane saying “Road Closed at Bridge” are still in place and we think they will be removed at some point during the next few weeks.

BCLCM – one of the first vehicles to drive over     Fall Lane Railway Bridge

Wow , what an exciting way to end the Year, 2016 was a RUSH .. from start to finish. December saw lots of our normal Christmas related festivities and activities, Lotherton was brilliant this year as was Our Winter visit to Sundown it was ever so magical and ALL the children including us had our special bookings with the big man himself. Santa Clause was amazing although there are TWO very disappointed gentlemen as we asked if both Graham and Karl were getting bikes this Christmas , Graham a new Triathalon Speed Racer and Karl a motorbike to which his answer was a pretty resounding NO, more or less said that we had to try harder for nexr year…. BAH HUMBUG !!!

Mission Christmas 2016 Cash for Kids Charity was another huge success and together with our wonderful Customers, Neighbours, Friends, Family, Fellow childminders, East Ardsleyians, STAX PLC, Abraham Moons & Sons, Morrisons at Junction 41,  Adelios of Morley, Neighbours of the Meadowside Estate we collected and donated around £2100 worth of presents and £173 in cash, This is another fantastic year and we are really proud to be part of Cash for Kids as we hold this charity and the worth while cause very close to our hearts, We look after children for a living and thinking that there are children in this world yet alone Leeds and Wakefield that do not get the chance to open ONE SINGLE CHRISTMAS PRESENT in 2016 is HEART BRAKING. Have a look at the Radio Aire Cash for Kids pages for more details and check out the heart wrenching videos too.  Together we helped create a magical special christmas for 23,396  children, this is something that we can ALL be proud about.

We have lots of things planned for 2017 and we will make sure that we acheive our goals and targets, everyone learns through experience and every day will be an education that is Fun Fun Fun !

Fall Lane Bridge is Still out of action and the projected completion date is the 28th January, although there are muted rumours already that Seymour will miss this target too, so please please please be careful as the roads just seem so dangerous even more so this year, especially when its very cold as water seems to gather near the traffic lights making it very slippery (icey) when you not expecting it,

We wish everyone a very Prosperous New Year – lets make 2017 a happy one, We have families moving into new homes, more babies on the way, New jobs for some, old jobs for others, we also have nursery children moving up to year one and some of the older children will be moving up to high schools for its certainly going to be exciting 2017 for most, lets all stay safe and enjoy the year ahead.

Its time to start thinking ahead for the school holidays especially the Summer one, we have all ready had some bookings so plan your break and get your bookings in early.

Our Number plate has been transferred onto the new FUNBUS…… we are awaiting the signage for the windows.

Its been a very busy couple of months since the Summer Holiday. Today we have just completed a Training Course on “Developing Effective Training and Interaction”  A fresh approach to existing practices “Sustained Shared Thinking” .

Out with the old and in with the new, Our beloved funbus ( 1st Generation )  has very sadly become Beyond Ecomonic Repair and we have replaced it with a shiny new one ( 2nd Generation ) at this moment in time it has not got any signs on it but we will get it done , we are also awaiting documentation from DVLA for the private registration plate  swap as we know that everyone looks at the number plate for us.

Fall Lane bridge is still out of action but they are moving swiftly and it all appears to be on time. Strong word of caution though and that is that people are running the RED LIGHTS at the junction at the top and ignoring the fact that the pedestrian crossing is still in use.  The maintanance team have bridge cameras now so hopefully the quilty will soon be getting warning letters.

Its now the time of year were we focus our efforts on Radio Aires – Cash for Kids – Mission Christmas 2016 Campaign, please watch social media for updates as we are once again East Ardsleys local drop off point, Anyone wanting to donate can ring us as well and we will collect your donations from you to help support local unpriviledged children in Leeds and surrounding areas.  Any further charity information can be found at Radio Aire’s website, you can see our Ambassadors page by clicking here.

December Update and photos on Mission Christmas will be posted just before christmas,   – its its too early to wish you all a Merry Christmas !

Fall Land Bridge is NOW CLOSED until Christmas – Please will all parents use the alternative route to get to us, if you get stuck please give us a call on the numbers that you have.  Please note that we will probably we walking TO SCHOOL each day, please be prepared. Thanks all xxx