New twist to male recruitment drive

The campaign, run by Surrey County Council's early years and childcare service, was launched in April to redress the gender imbalance in the sector (News, 21 April).

After attracting 4,000 people to the campaign website and advising 55 men at information sessions, the local authority decided to take the campaign a step further and record a series of podcasts for the website.

The podcasts feature men who work in childcare talking to offer insight to those thinking of taking it up professionally.

One will be used at career events at schools and colleges to appeal to boys and young men, while the other is aimed at more mature men who might be thinking about a career change or returning to work.

One of the men interviewed for the podcast is Mike McKenna, who, after seeing the Surrey campaign's posters, moved from working as a building society manager to a career in childcare.

Mr McKenna said he was asked to take part in the podcast and share his experiences shadowing staff at the Guildford Children's Centre, volunteering at the Happy Kids holiday club and being offered a full-time position as an after-school club assistant at Barnkids in Chiddingfold.

He said, 'I think it's absolutely vital for children to have male role models. The podcast gave me an opportunity to talk about how I got into the sector and why I find working with children is so rewarding and offers a much better work-life balance than finance ever did.'

• To listen to the podcasts visit the Men in Playwork, Early Education and Childcare (MiPEC) section of the council's website at www.surreycc.gov.uk.