mumandworking.co.uk
Launched in Feb 2006, this fantastic website has been helping parents find flexible working solutions ever since. The site is run by mum of two Joslyn Bellamy, on a part-time basis from her home office in Penzance, Cornwall. She was inspired to set the site up after realising there was a gap in the job market for parents. People who wanted to work, but also wanted to be able to do the school run and not have to use out of school childcare were not being catered for. Historically it had also been hard for time-pressed mums and dads to quickly find information about opportunities to earn extra cash that were genuine.
As Joslyn says “If you’ve only got an hour or so to go online whilst your child has a lunchtime nap you want to make sure that time is well spent. Mums told me they had wasted hours looking for jobs, that the information was really hard to find. I knew there was family-friendly work out there…and thought I should bring it all together so www.mumandworking.co.uk was born!”
All of the jobs on mumandworking have been vetted for their family-friendliness, in terms of fitting in around the children and other family commitments.
As well as providing information about jobs, the site also features training courses that are either distance learning or offered on a part-time basis and has a section about setting up your own business. The in-house Business Agony Aunt Helen is also on hand to answer emails about specific work related problems parents might be facing. Joslyn has worked hard to build up a community feel to the site as she feels it is important that www.mumandworking.co.uk is seen as a friendly place to look for work instead of a traditional corporate job site. A popular feature is the ‘tried and tested’ panel where parents have the chance to review products.
With the help of web designer husband Paul, Joslyn launched mumandworking.co.uk in February 2006. She says: “Broadband was crucial, both in setting up the website and being able to keep it up to date. The speed is great as time is of the essence and because our connection is wireless, I can work anywhere in the house, depending on where the children are. Also, the majority of my communication with advertisers and other mums is done out of hours by email, after my children have gone to bed or early in the morning before they get up."
“As the site is focused nationally as well as locally, most jobs can be done anywhere in the country. Cornwall often gets forgotten by national advertisers and they don't promote their opportunities down here. Hopefully I am going some way to giving local people access to national opportunities earning the same commission as someone elsewhere in the UK.”
actnow is running a pilot project called actnow flex to promote the use of flexible working amongst small businesses in Cornwall and across the South West. Joslyn very much supports this initiative: “I definitely support the actnow flex initiative – for many mums, childcare is an issue and they can’t do a full 9-5 day, but can do at least 4 hours. It’s all about changing perceptions; it’s better to get a few hours of quality time without staff being stressed out and retain that talent.”
Any businesses wishing to employ part time or flexible workers can contact Joslyn (email jos@mumandworking.co.uk) to advertise on the mumandworking site.
