Kate was my daughter's child minder for over a year, and the day we had to move away and her care came to an end was a truly sad day indeed.

Kate looked after our daughter Ella from the age of 7 months. As with all first time mothers, I was very worried about leaving my daughter with someone else for the first time. She had never really been away from me, and even though we started off doing very limited hours I was still anxious about how she would handle it. Kate was a constant source of reassurance through that settling in period, and though Ella had some difficult patches where I think she was suffering from quite extreme separation anxiety, Kate never wavered in her support and care. Ella can be very willful and demanding, but before long she settled in beautifully and would wiggle excitedly each morning when I told her that we were going to Kate's.

Kate is an excellent teacher for young children and seized upon each of Ella's new skills to develop them further. She is fully aware of how important it is for children to be supported and nurtured and always made sure that Ella had a wide range of experiences to learn from. As part of this work she made a beautiful portfolio full of pictures and developmental assessments that we will cherish forever.

Perhaps most importantly I was always completely certain that Ella was totally safe with Kate and her family. Choosing a child minder can be difficult, but I can honestly say that Kate is the best there is, and anyone would be lucky to have her in their child's life. Ella still talks about Kate and the other children one month on from leaving, and I know that the year in her life that she spent with Kate was a very special one.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Kate to anyone I know. She was like a second mother to Ella, and you know when you're child is happy with someone else when they don't even look back when you drop them off in the morning!