1. What is Spacechildren?
Spacechildren stands for Single
Parents Accommodation & Childcare Exchange.
It is a national online
database of single parents who wish to houseshare with other single
parents, or who may just wish to meet others with whom they can organise
reciprocal (or paid) childcare and babysitting, or make friends.
Two of the major problems
faced by single parents are financial and emotional. By combining
resources and sharing a house together, two single parent families are
able to afford improved living conditions, as well as being able to
provide each other with emotional support and advice.
Housesharing can be used
by parents who wish to hold on to their family home by renting out some
of the rooms, as well as parents who are looking at sharing a new property
together.
Premium Members are also
able to access a private forum area.
2. How does it Work?
As a guest to the site
you are able to perform a trial search for members in your selected
areas.
In order to perform full
searches you are required to create an online profile. You can
do this by going to the Sign Up page. You will need to enter a username and password and your email address, after which you will need to login and go to Profile and Edit Profile. You will be asked to answer
a number of questions and to select whether you are interested in housesharing
and/or childcare/babysitting/friendship/holiday share.
You will then need to
select your preferred membership option (see details below).
Once you have created
your profile you are able to perform a full search for other parents
in your chosen areas by going to the Search Members
page.
A list of matching members
will be displayed which will list their username, age, number of children,
and last date they accessed the site.
To read their full profiles
you can click on their username. Once you have found members you
would like to contact, you will need to become a Bronze or Premium member
in order to obtain their email address.
Bronze and Premium members
will be able to make contact via email or via the forum only. They will not have
access to phone numbers unless you choose to give them out.
3. How much does it cost?
There are three types
of membership, Basic, Bronze and Premium.
Basic Membership
- allows you to post your profile for others to search. It does
not allow you access to other members contact information nor the forums, but Premium
Members will be able to contact you. If you wish to reply to their message
you will need to upgrade to a Bronze or Premium membership. You will
be able to perform full searches on other members. You will also
have access to all information on the Resources page.
Basic Membership is free
of charge.
Bronze Membership
- allows members all the facilities of the Basic Membership but also
allows you access to contact details for other members and to the forums for a period
of 1 day.
The
cost of Bronze Membership is £3.
Premium Membership
- allows members all the facilities of Basic Membership but also allows
you access to contact details for other members and the forums for a period of either
30 days or 120 days.
The cost for this membership
is £12.95 for 30 days or £24.95 for 120 days.
4. Why is there a Charge?
We currently need to charge
for Bronze and Premium Membership in order to cover the administration
and set-up costs which have allowed Spacechildren to exist.
Charges will be reviewed
on an ongoing basis and if sufficient outside sponsorship or funding
is able to be obtained, then charges will be amended accordingly.
If you are referred to
Spacechildren via a recognised charity then other payment options are available.
Please ask the Charity to contact us for further details.
5. Can I list my Profile
free of charge?
It is free of charge to
list your profile under any category, and you will be able to receive
messages from other paid members. However, if you wish to reply
to any messages, or send your own messages, then you will need to become
either a Bronze or Premium member.
6. How do I create
and edit a profile? Can I hide my profile details for a period
of time?
To create a profile please go to the membership or signup page. Select your type of membership. You will then need to select a username, password and email address, and agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. You will then be able to log in with your chosen username and password and edit your profile by clicking on Profile and then on Edit Profile. At this point you can also change your password if you wish. You will need to answer all questions in order to proceed, however if some do not apply you may answer N/A. Within the profile you are given the option of hiding your profile.
7. How is payment made?
Preferred method of payment
is via credit card via paypal. If you do not have a credit card and prefer
to pay by cheque, money order or direct deposit, please contact us at admin@spacechildren.co.uk for further information.
8. How do I contact
other members?
You are able to contact
other members only as a Bronze or Premium Member. Once you have
found a member you wish to contact, click on the ?contact? link
next to their details to send them a message. You are also able to communicate with other paid members via the forums.
9. How long before
I find a houseshare or childcare match?
This will be different
for each individual. If you are only looking in one suburb and
are very fixed about the type of match you are looking for, then it
will probably take you longer than someone who is willing to consider
different locations. Remember - for housesharers, this could
be your opportunity to move to another suburb which until now may have
been unaffordable. Try and select as many areas as possible when
searching for matches.
You do not have to pay
a fee unless you wish to contact other members, but remember that this
may mean it takes you longer to find a match as you will need to wait
until others contact you.
10. I wish to contact
other members but do not wish to have my details available to be viewed
by others.
For personal reasons you
may not wish to have your details available to be read by others.
You will still need to post your profile but then you can choose to
hide your details by going in to edit your account.
11. How do I decide
on a suitable houseshare or childcare
partner?
There are numerous factors
you should consider when choosing a potential family. Download
the attached Choosing a Houseshare Family
on the Resources page for advice and suggestions to maximize compatibility.
For childcare, read through the Childcare/Babysitting Guildelines on
the Resources page.
You can also access the Sample Houseshare Agreement which contains
additional information.
12. There are no members
in my area. What do I do?
If there are no members
listed in your area you have a few options.
Try looking at neighbouring
suburbs or in areas that you would like to move to. Alternatively
you can contact us to find out what advertising
we have already done in that area and what response we received.
It may be that you live in an area with few one parent families and
that we can recommend alternative areas you may wish to consider.
If you are still having
no luck, contact us for a copy of our media release
and place a free ad in your local newspaper or via your childcare centre
or school.
13. What about House
Rules?
It is important that any
rules are established before you move into your new home and/or before
you organize any childcare agreements. Have a look in the Resources
section at the Choosing a Houseshare Family advice and Childcare/Babysitting
Guidelines and
you can download a copy of our sample Houseshare Agreement. You
can either use this or add/delete clauses as suits.
14. I forgot my username
and password. What do I do?
If you have forgotten either your username or password, please contact us via the Contact Us page.
15. Does Spacechildren protect
its members' privacy?
Yes. Spacechildren does
not display members names, address, or telephone details. Once you contact another member, they will be able to see your email address. You may wish to consider setting up a hotmail or yahoo email address for this purpose.
If you wish to share any of that information with other members then
you are free to do so. We also do not store credit card information.
Please see our Privacy Policy for further information.
If you have any further questions
that have not been answered here, please contact us at admin@spacechildren.co.uk
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