Hollie

Highly recommend

Hollie has been wonderful with our son, looking after him from the age of 18 months to almost 3 (and she's still with us now). Hollie is always a kind and calming presence, but is firm when needed with our boundary-pushing toddler! We really trust Hollie and it's clear how much our little boy loves his time with her too. They do lots of activities out and about, as well as craft, baking and play. He also loves when Meadow comes along in the school holidays! All in all, we highly recommend Hollie.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by Emma S about Hollie on 15/02/2024

Great Nanny!

Hollie returned to our family to look after our second daughter in late 2019.

Hollie previously looked after our older daughter and she returned to us like she had never been away.

My daughter took to hollie immediately and didn’t skip a beat. Hollie immediately saw how different my children were and adapted her whole approach to suit the second child. There was no assumption that one approach suits all. Hollie was a bit magic immediately identifying and adapting to suit my daughter. However she also kept certain “traditions” for both children, like smelling the herb bushes on the way to the park, so that the sisters could talk about “what hollie did”.

We had the misfortune of the first lockdown when hollie couldn’t come to us, but afterwards when she could come again she started back with no trouble (for her or my daughter) literally a dream transition.

She truly cares for children and their families and had this perfect balance of being fully part of the family without being over bearing or over keen, she isn’t an intimidating “know it all” about child care, she is just a perfect blend of everything that the children and parents need - a good friend and guider to the parents and carer and teacher to the children.

We really miss hollie, as do my daughters. When we haven’t seen hollie for a while my girls will happily take off where they left off with hollie, like they have never been apart - a real bond that I never thought possible when my journey into finding a nanny started.

No review of hollie is complete without a review of meadow…her wonderful daughter. She is perfection - kind, clever, well mannered, good humoured and she is so calm and confident when she meets the children who hollie cares for. I have known meadow since she was 4 and is now an awesome 11 year old. We hadn’t seen meadow for 2 years during lockdown, but she recognised us from across the farm we were visiting and her joy and happiness shone across - she was so pleased to see my girls and remembered everything about them - and us! All of hollie’s wonderful life values shining through her daughter!

I HATED the thought of someone else (other than family and close friends) having charge of my daughters when I went back to work, but we were so lucky to meet Hollie and I feel Hollie really played a massive key part in making my daughters who they are today .

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by laurob5 about Hollie on 18/07/2022

Hollie is an incredible nanny!

Hollie joined our family in April 2019 when our son was coming up to two years old, and she's been with us ever since, taking our new baby under her care from the age of five months. I'm devastated to be writing this, really, because I don't ever want her to leave us - but we are leaving Bristol! If we could take her with us we would!

Hollie is great for all of us, not just the kids. She's always calm and gentle, no matter what, and is so incredibly kind to our kids. She uses positive reinforcement and discipline and goes out of her way to make our children feel listened to, loved and understood. We have learned so much from her.

Our four year old son is VERY busy and pushes boundaries all the time but Hollie has never struggled to manage him. She is always thinking up fun games and role plays and making him laugh, and she takes him out on legendary days in green spaces and around the city.

Hollie's daughter has also been a wonderful gift. Our son adores her and it's testament to Hollie's approach to parenting that her daughter is so kind, patient and tolerant of small kids.

I trust Hollie one million percent with my children and to that end have left her with them overnight on a couple of occasions with total confidence. In 2020 my partner went away for nearly five weeks with his work and Hollie moved in because our daughter was only tiny and I would have had a very difficult time on my own. Hollie was wonderful - she saved my bacon. The house was always tidy and she was so good at just taking a baby off me when things were getting too much, or whisking our son off for an outdoor adventure.

I can't recommend her highly enough and hope she will stay in my children's lives always.

• Overall

by Rosie about Hollie on 25/06/2021

We can not recommend Hollie highly enough.

Hollie joined our family in October 2017 when our son was just over a year and half. Personally it was a very difficult time as our search for Hollie was prompted by family illness. Our son had only ever been cared for by immediate family and so the need to find someone that could become part of our family and care for him at home was our aim. I met a number of people before Hollie and no one felt quite right. When Hollie arrived she was full of warmth and our son was immediately at ease, a breath of fresh air.

Hollie has a unique way of being; she is wholeheartedly child led, playful, creative and caring. She delivers intuitive care with limit setting that is clear, safe and with explanation.
She remains connected throughout the day sending photos and updates which are priceless. She adapts to our busy household, rarely phased by comings and goings.

Hollie uses positive praise to introduce and encourage independence skills; toilet training, getting dressed, nose blowing and hand washing for example. We’ve seen such progress in our son as a result of such high quality 1:1 care. Plus the added bonus of Hollie’s daughter leading by example. Our son absolutely adores her and always looked forward to her joining at the end of the school day.

Hollie was with our family for two years however Hollie and her daughter remain very much part of our world. She is quite simply the best!

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by Sophie about Hollie on 01/03/2020

Better than Mary Poppins

Where do I start with Hollie? She was a godsend to my then 7 month old and 2 year old during a very chaotic time.

I had never left my children in the care of anyone other than immediate family but from the first time I met Hollie I instantly felt comfortable with her. She was extremely professional, had all her qualifications with her and it was obvious she was going to look after the children the way I wanted. I also met her daughter and she really is a testament to how amazing Hollie’s skills are with children.

Lots of things were unclear for Hollie as I didn’t know what I was doing some of the time but she made it work and did an amazing job whilst making me feel like my wishes were being respected. I got amazing advice from her on the children and it was never unsolicited. Hollie looked after my children amongst family members but always made sure she did things my way even though it was challenging at times!

She was always looking for fun activities to do with my son and even managed to get him to self feed! This was something no one ever managed to achieve with my son. Both my children were extremely happy and comfortable in her care which was huge for my daughter as she’d been in and out of hospital and was very clingy to me.

My kids were always doing fun activities where they were also learning so many things. I’m a little bit of a clean freak but I had no issues with Hollie’s standard of cleanliness at all! I had also never let my children go out without me unless it was a family member but I trusted Hollie completely. She was so considerate of my feelings as she would always keep me updated and didn’t stay out too long the first few times.

I cannot recommend Hollie enough, I wish we could still have her around. My family became extremely fond of her also and the children miss her so much. She helped us so much during a difficult time and I’m so glad I had the privilege of Hollie looking after my children.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by Sadiya about Hollie on 10/05/2019