The Nanny Solidarity Network (NSN) began as an informal network of childcare workers who established a solidarity fund during the first COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020 to help each other survive the pandemic. We launched a crowdfunder and distributed emergency funds to 45 childcare workers, the majority of whom were migrants with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).
The fund provided an essential lifeline for members in desperate need but we realised that the structural inequalities our members were facing went far deeper than the current pandemic. Instead of fire-fighting with one-off crisis response for individuals, we started to prioritise building structures that would make us more connected and more powerful in the longer term to tackle the conditions that produce individual hardship.
Since the solidarity fund, the NSN has matured rapidly. In 11 months we have developed our core organising team and built a community of over 100 nannies & au pairs. In January, after months of meetings and outreach, we formally established a union branch with Independent Workers Great Britain (IWGB)—the first union branch for in-home childcare workers in the UK. We are now in the planning stages of our first campaign which will be a tandem effort between the union branch and the NSN, and are running regular in-person meet-ups, nanny stay-and-play sessions that incorporate worker’s rights workshops, and continued focus on peer support & collective casework.
Our core organising team (the ‘coordinating group’) is made up entirely of childcare workers, some of whom first became involved in the network as recipients of the hardship fund. Two thirds of the team are migrants and the majority are Black or Latinx women. The majority of us have directly experienced the Hostile Environment and this has hugely informed our campaigning focus and theory of change for the sector. Punitive migration policies forced many of us into exploitative and abusive working conditions. We therefore believe regulation cannot be done safely without a concurrent end to the Hostile Environment, ensuring legal status for all workers to assert their rights.
The NSN is committed to fostering a culture of mutual aid between nannies & au pairs while also building our worker power in order to effect radical change.
Below are a set of core values that underpin everything we do:
All members have equal say in the running and objectives of the Nanny Solidarity Network. We are migrant-oriented and migrant-led, and will strive to ensure that this always remains the case.
We are here to grow together and learn from each other through supporting each other and the Network. We have strictly enforced Codes of Conduct both for staff and for members, to ensure that all participants treat their fellow workers with kindness, solidarity, and respect. In joining together, the Network offers nannies and au pairs the space both to create meaningful change in our sector.
All workers, regardless of immigration status, have a right to equitably access education, financial aid, and community. Resources and support should be free for all nannies and au pairs. The cost of education, training, support, and advice should not impede workers’ ability to access the help they need. We aim to provide these for free for our members, through a combination of grant funding and donations-based support.
We believe that all nannies & au pairs, regardless of immigration status, should be paid a living wage. We are workers first, carers second, and we believe that we should be properly treated and respected. Employers should not be able to exploit our immigration status or threaten us when we stand up for ourselves. We are stronger together, which is why we built the NSN.
We are a non-profit organisation led by and for nannies, and are always looking for people who can help support our community.
Learn moreRegistered charity number: 12699890
