We needed a childminder in Oxford only for a few months in between moving homes. We found the perfect match with Gillian, who lives close to my office and has been extremely flexible and accommodating given the temporary nature of our childminding needs.

It was the first time we had to leave our then 7.5 months old daughter for more than a couple of hours and we were a bit anxious about that, but within a few days we felt confident that she was having a pleasant time. In fact on some days she would jump off my arms and start playing with the toys, get cuddles from Gill, or try to grab the cat's tail.

We knew all along that this was just a temporary arrangement, but when we eventually moved home we were really sad to leave Gillian as our little girl had settled so well with her.