chloe11

I am urgently looking for a Facepainter to work at a Fostering Information day at Wimbledon Library this Saturday 24th May from 11 - 2pm. Please PM me if you have availability. I need someone who is CRB checked and has their own liability insurance. Many thanks

Thanks so much for your attention and explanation to this Cathy, I too was duped into queuing in the freezing cold to collect my reserved items, I feel rather stupid now! Whoever this person is, they went to soooo much effort writing down all of those items and responding to all those people separately, they must have a lot of time on their hands! It's very sad really. You can see why we all thought it was a marketing ploy - a very successful one at that. Either someone was having a laugh or it was written by another seller trying to increase people through the door, all very confusing but I do hope it doesn't affect any future Peekaboo sales. I'm sure it won't.

Thank you very much for your comments. It seems the main concerns are around working and the impact on current family life. To answer a few questions, you can work and foster but it will limit the age range of the young people you will have in your care. If you work, it will need to be flexible so that you have the time to devote to the child in your care. If you have a full-time job you may prefer to choose to be a short break/ respite carer which could be a good introduction to the world of fostering. Local Authorities pay around ?400 per week per child, more if you are an experienced carer or look after sibling groups. I think it's important to note that although it should never be looked at as a money making scheme, people should be rewarded and put in a comfortable financial position to take on this role especially if they are giving up a job to do so. Some carers see it as career meaning they could utilise the skills they had gained through being a parent to their own children and doing a job at home whilst still being a mum/dad. One carer I know had been a nurse but the long hours meant she was missing out on her children growing up. She wanted a professional career working from home. Others do see it as 'calling', the reasons are all individual. I wonder whether a campaign that was focused on current Foster Carers could be more beneficial? If you were given examples of Foster Carers and their situations and an insight as to how a fostered child fits around current family living. I know that many foster carers decided to go for it because they knew someone who was already doing it. It doesn't seem so scary then. Thanks again everybody for your comments and please feel free to keep them coming!

Hi All I am running a campaign alongside local government to promote fostering and I would really like to get your views on fostering if you would be willing to share them. Particularly around certain aspects of fostering that would hold you back or put you off. Have you ever started the process and pulled out along the way? Have you had any good/bad experiences with fostering? Any views or comments would be much appreciated. Thank you

Signed.

Hi there, a fellow East Dulwich resident has her own business in paraben and chemical free baby toiletries, I use them on my baby and toddler and they are really lovely and 100% natural, her website is: www.worldofcreatures.com

Have you fiddled with the sensitivity settings? Ours in on the highest setting and only occasionally goes off when little one gets himself into the corner. I couldn't live without it though!

We had a nightmare and ended up going to Peterborough to collect my sons passport as they wrote to the counter signature whilst he was on holiday so make sure the person who countersigns the application is going to be around for the next few weeks to reply to any verification letters!

Hello Does anybody have any information on the Ecole Cadet Rouselle, french nursery school in Herne Hill? I have emailed and left telephone messages about securing a place there for my son but no response. Just wondering if anybody's children go there, is there a waiting list or if anybody has had any experience with them. Many thanks Chloe.

Thanks so much everyone, i will get both and see how we get on.

Hello, we are off on hols in a couple of weeks so I took my 15 month old son to Jelly Babies at Dulwich Leisure Centre this morning which is the first time he has been swimming in 6 months. He is fiercely independent and wants to do everything by himself so he got very frustrated! Can anyone recommend the best thing to use which will mean he can play by himself in the water? I will obviously be right next to him at all times but wondered whether arm bands or a swim vest would be better or both? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Chloe

I have been a victim of a hurrendous tenant scam which I will tell you so that you don't make the stupid mistake that we did. We rented our flat out privately because we did not want to pay estate agent fees and 2 young men replied, came round that night for a chat, they seemed polite, friendly and professional. They gave us work references and a reference from thier previous landlord who I called straight away and who gave a glowing reference for these boys. They gave us 6 weeks rent as a deposit and the first months rent in advance. They then paid the next month's rent on time but that was the last amount they ever paid us. They changed the locks on our flat door and the only way we could get them out was through the courts. Even though it is illegal to change the locks on a rented property, the police will tell you that it is a civil matter and can only be dealt with by the courts. We hired a solictor and had to wait until they were 2 full months in arrears then we had to wait another 3 months for a court date and when we finally got a conviction to evict them we were told the only people who are legally allowed to evict tenants are court bailiffs and we had to wait another 3 weeks for a date for which they could evict them. My husband very nearly smashed the window to drag them out but that is an offence and we would have ended up in court before them! They rented our flat in March, paid 3 months rent and lived there rent free until December. They had completely trashed our beautiful flat and did a runner. They had left their jobs for which they had also given us references and there was no trace of them. To this day they owe us over ?12,000 in rent and damages. Our solictor has warned us that we would need to spend a lot more money to go after them, including hiring a private detective. We did not do our homework properly and suffered the consequences. There are so many honest and reliable tenants out there but there are also tenants who know how to play the system and we got played big time. Be careful as once they are in, they are in!