Julia

Part of the family.

Mel has been in our lives for nearly 10 years. She looked after our first daughter, and then seven years later our second too.

She is dedicated to development and education and provides regular feedback on things we can spend time on at home.

Mel is very active and ensures the children are outdoors as much as possible which I've always appreciated. Even on days when the weather isn't great her garden is fully equipped to let kids explore, play and learn.

My youngest has been with Mel since she was a few months old, and seeing how her care has adapted over the years has demonstrated the knowledge and dedication that you get with someone as experienced as Mel. In fact she does such a good job our daughter rarely wants to come home!

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by Julia about Mel P (Childminder) on 10/02/2026

Response by Mel P on 10/02/2026:

Love your little family xx

Innovative, caring and fun

Maria is well worth sitting on a waiting list for, along with her beautiful mother and daughter team.

The home environment is a well-equipped chaos of fun, learning and love.... but most of the time the kids are out and about anyway, in the park, woods, local care home or at a day trip to an educational venue such as a dentist, optician or even the AIRPORT (all arranged by this fantastic team). You get great pictorial updates throughout the day which is lovely to see and share as the children run around like a happy pack. My 2YO daughter has a group of friends that greet her at the door and take her in by the hand.... my heart melts every time. As far as learning goes, my daughter has learnt all her basic colours, can count to 15 and has more words in her vocabulary than most teenagers... so Maria must be doing something right :)

All food is prepared by Maria... some of the ingredients are picked by the kids in her allotment. It's fresh. It's healthy. The kids tend to eat a lot better there than at home!

In short, I could not recommend Maria enough.

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by Julia about maria (Childminder) on 16/11/2018

My daughter's best friend

Our daughter was with 'Mel Mel' for several months, and over this time we saw her develop confidence, a fabulous vocabulary and a love of hanging out with other children of all ages. Mel is exceptionally well organised and the set up perfect for exploring and learning. We would not hesitate to recommend Mel to anyone in the area!

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by Julia about Mel P (Childminder) on 28/08/2018

Response by Mel P on 05/09/2018:

Thank you Jules... will catchup with you and IP in the next few weeks x