A Beckenham mother has launched a new website which helps local parents find other ‘parent buddies’ to share the school run with.
Natasha Adom, 37, created the Schoolrunbuddy website as a means of allowing parents to work around their often busy schedules by sharing the school run workload.
Schoolrunbuddy essentially acts as a virtual noticeboard so parents can, for example, take a buddy’s child to school on Mondays and Tuesdays, in exchange for their buddy taking their child to school on Thursdays and Fridays.
Natasha told News in Beckenham: “I struggled to find childcare when we moved to the area two years ago – nothing was available at all. Eventually I arranged a childcare swap with another parent.
“I want to make it easier for other parents to do this and to help them have a process with checks and vetting before they do so. All the feedback from parents so far has been great.”
Parents must register on the Schoolrunbuddy platform. Once signed up they then search the available parents on the platform to find a potential buddy who is willing to share the schoolrun with them, on days that suit them both.
Parents speak initially via the platform’s messaging function and then, once comfortable, meet each other without their respective children.
There’s guidance on the platform about how to meet and things to consider before they do so, including how to go about checking each other’s identity and, if necessary, checking with a PTA member or someone they know and trust at the school that the buddy is a parent at the school and how to obtain DBS checks.
If the parents choose to go ahead, they can start building a relationship of trust with play dates and meet-ups before they begin to buddy up for the school run.