Celebrating SCMA's 40th Birthday!

2025 is a milestone year for SCMA, as we have been supporting, advocating and celebrating childminders for 40 years.

Established in 1985 by two pioneering childminders, SCMA continues to be the only organisation that is dedicated to supporting all aspects of childminding in Scotland.

The childminding landscape has evolved significantly over the last four decades, and in turn, SCMA has kept pace by continuing to evolve, grow and expand to support our valued members, the wider workforce, and children and families you support.

Driving SCMA forward...

SCMA is led and manged by our Scottish Executive Board, made up of Elected Members who are working childminders from across the country.

Volunteering their own time to steer and shape the priorities of the Association, each Elected Member has knowledge and practical experience of childminding – and it is this combination that has helped SCMA towards the professional status it holds today.

“It’s good to remember it was the ‘committed to childminding’ volunteers who got SCMA going in the first place. I was really surprised that we were all just ordinary people doing an extraordinary, worthwhile job.

Interested in becoming an Elected Member?

Being an Elected Member gives you the opportunity to make a difference to the progress of SCMA and childminding in Scotland at a national level. Find out more HERE.

Our SCMA members...

Our childminder members are at the heart of SCMA, and we provide a diverse range of support, professional services and benefits for our members – and crucially, SCMA provides a national voice for professional childminding in Scotland.

83% of childminders in Scotland are members of SCMA, which helps to demonstrate that childminders are professional, informed, committed to quality improvement and to providing the very best service for children and families.

“I have been a member of SCMA since I became a childminder almost 30 years ago, and I may be one of the longest serving childminders, which I’m very proud of.

“My whole business has always been led around SCMA supporting me – and I have gained so much to develop my childminding business over the last 30 years. I honestly couldn't have run my business without the support from SCMA. Happy 40th birthday!”

The journey so far…

It’s amazing to see how far SCMA has come in the last 40 years – our story is truly remarkable, and it’s all thanks to those inspiring childminders in the beginning, who had a vision, and made it become a reality.

Over the 40 years, there’s been highs, lows and everything in between – but SCMA has remained steadfast in its determination to ensure that the childminding workforce is Scotland is always represented, progressive, and supported.

The future of SCMA…

SCMA actively promotes childminding as a quality childcare service and supports childminders to be the very best they can be – and we will continue to support our members and be a robust advocate for the childminding workforce for many, many years to come.

We strive for childminding to receive more recognition, as we continue to champion the benefits that childminding offers to children, young people, families and communities.

SCMA launched the next phase of our ten-year strategy in May 2024: Changing the Narrative (Stage 2) Childminding | Providing Solutions for Scotland: SCMA Strategy 2024-2027, which focuses on providing vital solutions for childminding in Scotland.

Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future

In 2024, SCMA began delivering the ‘Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future’ (PSCF), a three-year national childminder retention and recruitment programme funded by the Scottish Government.

Read more about the childminder recruitment strand of PSCF HERE.
Read more about the childminder retention strand of PSCF HERE.