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Buffer Bear - A social enterprise celebrating a ten year record of success. In the Spring of 2003, Buffer Bear opened its first two Neighbourhood Nurseries (at Brighton and Rainham in Essex), and two more nurseries in partnership with the NHS, bringing its total network across the UK to 25 locations. Over the next twelve months it plans to open many more Neighbourhood Nurseries across the country. There have been considerable challenges to overcome in the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative, but Buffer Bear has embraced the opportunities it also provides to offer its childcare services to a wider community nationwide. Both the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative, and the NHS Plan for the creation of on-site nurseries for the NHS, are a good fit with the social enterprise multi-stakeholder model which Buffer Bear has pioneered for the last ten years. The openness, transparency and accountability which are essential to the operation of a social enterprise are also key to the choice of Buffer Bear as preferred provider for Neighbourhood Nurseries for a large number of EYDCPs and community organisations. Buffer Bear was formed from the privatisation of British Rail in 1994, and it has retained the public sector ethos of service to the community, whilst developing the entrepreneurial freedom of the private sector, in partnership with key stakeholders such as employers and local community groups, including schools, churches, colleges, community associations and Sure Start local programmes. The Buffer Bear network has the ability to provide extensive support and expertise to local projects, but each individual nursery has its own group of stakeholders, including staff and parents, who, through local Management Committees, can and do exercise considerable influence over key management decisions. Partnerships with employers, local authorities, and the NHS have been an important priority for a number of years, and latterly the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative has provided Buffer Bear with the opportunity to develop nurseries in areas of disadvantage, previously unsustainable without any form of government subsidy. In its ten-year history, Buffer Bear has used all surpluses to re-invest in better terms and conditions for staff, and buildings and equipment for children, and to keep its fees as affordable as possible. One of the benefits of its stakeholder partnerships has been the resulting financial independence, so the organisation has no borrowing requirement to support, again producing lower fees for nursery users. Recently the Buffer Bear nursery run in partnership with one of the London NHS Trusts was chosen by the Paymaster General as a model for the public sector, especially with respect to the focus on affordability for lower-paid nursery users. The greatest challenge for Buffer Bear in the next ten years is to continue to make affordability and sustainability key cornerstones of its service to nursery users, whilst at the same time continuing to improve the terms and conditions of its employees. In a recent IDS survey, Buffer Bear came out at the top end of the private sector for its remuneration package for staff. It was one of the first childcare organisations to introduce a contributory pension scheme, where employee contributions are matched by Buffer Bear, and to give up to 25 days paid leave. Through subsidised childcare, and flexible working arrangements, it supports its own employees who are trying to combine work and family. Regular training opportunities, including two days every year for each nursery team as a group, are seen as an essential part of a professional workforce. The greatest accolade that an organisation can have is the loyalty and commitment of its employees. Buffer Bear staff teams are long-serving, with many opportunities for career progression within the company. Treating staff as key stakeholders in this multi-stakeholder social enterprise has proved invaluable in the success of the organisation, and in empowering local managers to create nurseries which are responsive to the needs of their local communities. Especially in its partnerships with Local Authorities, EYDCPs, Sure Start and local schools, Buffer Bear is focusing on delivering places for families who need childcare to return to training and/or employment, for Children in Need and children with special needs. Alongside offering a range of services for the support of families, these are the essential cornerstones of Neighbourhood Nurseries. Buffer Bear will work, in consultation and with advice from the DfES, to ensure the success of Neighbourhood Nurseries in meeting the needs of families living in the qualifying areas. The last ten years have enabled Buffer Bear to develop its multi-stakeholder model for a childcare social enterprise. The Neighbourhood Nursery, Sure Start, and most recently Children's Centre Initiatives, and the NHS Plan, have come along just at the right time to provide Buffer Bear with the opportunities to extend the benefits of this model to a much wider community nationwide. As childcare is changing to meet the future needs of families, Buffer Bear intends that its model will also evolve, to provide a range of services designed to make life better for children and their parents.
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