We have written to all SCMA members to advise that from 1 April 2024 there will be a slight increase to the cost of your SCMA membership fees – equating to just £1 extra per month if you pay by Direct Debit.
What does this mean for me?
From 1 April 2024, if you pay monthly by Direct Debit, you will be charged an extra £1 per month for membership.
If you prefer to pay the full amount, your SCMA membership will cost £111 for the year. However, when it comes time for you to renew, you could choose to pay in monthly instalments to help spread the cost. Our Direct Debit does not incur any additional costs, as we don’t charge any fees or interest.
Please note that no action is required now.
You will be notified in the usual way when your membership renewal is due.
This increase of £12 for the year is due to the rising cost of insurance, inflation, and other operating costs, which are unfortunately unavoidable. Last year we were able to absorb some price increases, which isn’t feasible for us this year, but we’ve strived to keep costs as low as possible and have also secured further membership benefits for you.
Why is your membership important?
Your membership fees provide vital funding for SCMA which enables us to continue to represent your views and advocate for positive policy changes on your behalf – and in the development of national frameworks and guidance.
“A big thank you to SCMA for being our voice – I appreciate everything you’re doing for me and my fellow SCMA members. I would miss out on so many things, if it wasn’t for SCMA – I truly applaud SCMA for their support and help!”
Some recent examples of our work:
- SCMA submitted a robust response to the Shared Inspection Framework consultation, stating that the document was not fit for purpose in its current form, significant re-working was required, and that its implementation should be delayed.
- As a national voice for childminding, we always campaign and advocate for childminders to be carefully considered and included as a childcare option for parents and we are engaging with Health Visitors at a national level to improve their understanding of childminding.
For more examples of SCMA representing the views of childminders, please explore our
latest news pages.
NEW Benefits for SCMA Members
From April 2024, SCMA members will have exclusive and unlimited access to an extensive range of FREE e-Learning programmes from
Flick Learning.
Designed specifically for professional childcare providers, these new e-Learning programmes will be relevant to your childminding practice, your business, and include soft skills training to support your CPL and complement our exclusive range of Learn with SCMA e-Learning courses.
Your membership also provides FREE access to our upcoming SCMA Conference 2024 on Saturday 11 May. Booking and information for all of these opportunities will be shared with members soon.
A reminder of your current membership benefits, at-a-glance:
- Inclusive SCMA Practitioner Insurance
- FREE online advertising to parents and families
- FREE live webinars from Learn with SCMA*
- FREE access to the SCMA Conference*
- FREE STEM e-Learning, focussing on Autism and ADHD
- FREE support from the Helpline
- FREE enhanced, tailored support from our CMSOs
- FREE wellbeing and counselling support
- FREE legal and business support
- FREE regular updates specifically tailored to childminders in Scotland
- …and much, much more.
*Please take some time to explore your
Membership Dashboard and familiarise yourself with the wide range of tools and resources available to you – including access previous live webinars and conferences that you can watch in your own time and then add to your personalised Learning Log.
We very much value your continued support and we’re working hard to secure more features and benefits which we know will make a difference to you – including access to a discount portal for a wide range of market-leading brands and retailers. We hope to be able to share details on this soon.