West Dulwich’s Peace and Riot is the first of its kind: a workspace with childcare, kitchen and bar – all in one place. The shared work and play space works on an ad-hoc credits system where 1 credit gives you 30 minutes of childcare; children play at play stations spaced throughout the rooms, while adults work at generous handmade desks enjoying – finally – a hot cup of coffee. Designed in Scandi-industrial style, Peace and Riot is packed with modern, educational, and sensory toys, sitting beside an outside garden and onsite kitchen serving healthy meals.
Founder Caroline Newte Hardie, 41, who has a background in education, created the business after having two children of her own and experiencing first-hand the difficulties working parents face with childcare costs.
“Of the percentage of men and women who reduce their work hours when they become parents, only 21 percent are able to keep their reduced hours salaried, resulting in a death spiral of parental income,” Caroline, who has a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old child, says. “After my first child, I went part-time and I felt guilty when I was working and not with my child but equally when I was with my child I felt like I should be working. Then just before I had my second, I was made redundant. I just felt that there had to be another way.”
Peace + Riot became that brand new way of doing things.
The UK has the third highest rates for childcare in Europe. On average, sending a child to nursery 5 days a week costs parents around £1200-£1600 a month. Caroline designed Peace and Riot to be affordable. A monthly membership on the highest usage tier for two children provides families with 50 hours of childcare a month for just £199.95 a month (for up to 3.5 hours per day) and works out at just £1 per child, per 30 minutes. A monthly membership, which allows 8 hours a month, charges credits at just £2.50 and it’s still only £3.95 for 30 minutes for non-members.
“It’s never going to replace a nanny or nursery full-time but you can reduce your dependency on full time traditional childcare and hugely reduce your costs and get to see your children a bit more too,” Caroline says.
For Freelancers, Part Time, Remote or Condensed week workers Peace and Riot offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional childcare options. On this, Caroline says “say you’re working from home, deadlines and workloads creep into your days off or you simply need a change of scenery in order to get the job at hand done; you can’t just appear at your nursery’s door and ask them to squeeze your kids in. Your only option -if you don’t have family support around the corner – is to continue to press on alone or take your child to a creche. You find yourself plonking them with someone you – and they – don’t know, go off feeling guilty, then use up valuable time (it’s £30 for 2 hours at a creche!) trying to find a café to work in only to find you spend the entire time feeling terribly guilty and distracted whilst you nurse a cup of coffee, only to head off after an hour to pick up your child.
“I don’t necessarily want to be separated from my child when I’m working either – I wanted to find a way for the two aspects of my life to co-exist instead of to constantly compete. Our Peace Keepers are the answer to that. The ratio is 1 Peacekeeper to 3 children which follows the NSPCC guidelines. Children are happily immersed playing with carefully selected toys to suit most children between newborn and 10-years-old. On top of that we have the front of house staff who love kids and can’t wait to help. They’re all led by Ellen who’s a force of nature and as a mother herself is great at pre-empting parents’ needs. It just really has a village feel. We’re on your side.”
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The space itself is calm and quiet, you only need to check out the reels on their Instagram for confirmation. “People are often amazed at how tranquil it feels. We always think it’s the kids that make the racket but grown-ups are the loud ones. A room full of engaged and cared for children are calm because their needs are being met!”
The design is Scandinavian “so it looks grown up,” Caroline says. “The coffee’s great, the food’s healthy and plant focused as much as possible; we’ve got a vegetarian and vegan menu and it’s all very eco focused. Peace + Riot members even get money off with eco toy library Whirli.”
The format seems to work with the most regular members averaging a visit every day to carry out 2-3 hours of work, having lunch with their child and taking the chance to chat and decompress. From there members will take their child home for a nap and get on with more work. Caroline adds “they’ve absolutely maximised how much work they can get done in the day but in a much healthier way for their mental health.”
Parents enjoy the communal nature of the integrated childcare and co-working space and the change of scenery from working from home. After opening in June last year, it’s quickly become a destination venue with members coming from all over London: Camden, Kentish Town, Deptford, Lewisham, Balham, Crystal Palace, Croydon, Peckham, and Norwood.
Currently Peace and Riot is pitching for funding to open more sites.
Visit Peace and Riot at 12 Croxted Road, SE21 8SP. Phone: 020 8670 5013. www.peaceandriot.co
Use the code: Firstbirthday to receive 20% of your monthly membership for 1 year.
This article was brought to you from The South Londoner
