Gender equality and thewellbeing of working parents are issues that are both firmly on the agenda in 2017, something that 30-somethingJamie Leith andJames McCrossen are all too aware of.Leith andMcCrossen are "mannies," or male nannies, on a mission to shake up the childcare industry and encourage a more gender-balanced mindset.The experienced primary school teachers launchedtheir own nannying agency, Manny & Me, in 2016, asone of thefirst childcare agencies to combine childcare and education.Withan almost 50/50 split ofmannies and nannies on its books, includingfour qualified teachers androughly 10 to 15 graduates, the agency looks after the children of bankers, architects, and creatives, and is getting more and more calls from people in theadvertising industry.Prior to starting the agency, McCrossen spent seven years working as a nanny for the samefamily. He had begun tutoring while teaching to supplement his income, and one family asked him to take on the teaching and childminding rolefull time, givinghim the income to completeanMA in primary education at UCL.While he stillworks part-time in a north London school teaching as well as mentoring newly qualified teachers, his mind is now set on another goal.Since launching their own agency, Leith and McCrossen have embarked on a missionto provide new innovativesolutions for working parents who struggle to find childcareduring the school holidays."We came into contact with lots of working parents andrealised that there werehuge gaps in access to good, affordable, and convenient care for parents of children at primary age, particularly during school holidays," Leith told Business Insider.They found that in every single case, it was the mums who were being forcedto take time off, andeither go on holiday or just stay home in these periods. Half-term clubs, for example, often finish at 4 p.m., meaning a normal working day in the corporate world isn't possible for parents without childcare."This got us thinking, and we created a pitch seeking to work with companies that have strong diversity, wellbeing, and inclusion agendas, and a workforce of dedicated parents," he said.The mannies' proposed solution is simple, but ticks a number of boxes.Leith and McCrossen are working to builda scheme that takes childcare in-house to some of the UK's major multinational corporations during certain holiday periods.They are already in talks with a major French bank, advertising agencies, and a law firm, among otherbig corporate firms."This way companiesretain theirworkforce during a time when many lose swathes of employees to forced time off," Leith said.Under the schemeemployees willbe able to drop their kids off in the morning and collect them at the close of business."The benefits for families are huge," he added. "They get subsidised care andtheir children will not only get tosee where mum or dad works, but get tosocialise with the childrenof their parents' colleagues."The companiesjust need to supply a meeting room for registration, and then the mannies will take the kids out for a full day of educational and sporting activities."Our plan is to staff the clubs with teachers, too. London has a whole army of supply teachers that don't earn during half-term."And the agency has theresources to staff the clubs with the right kind of candidate, according to Leith."The wonder of having an agency side to it is that we have a pool of individuals on our books that we deem suitablefor these roles," he said.Ultimately, themannies want to disruptthe demographic of people that see nannying as a short-term career option in more ways than one.Their quest to create innovative childcare solutions for working parents has caught the attention of Parliament and, last month, Leith spoke at an event about gender equality held by the Women and Work APPG."We started out as an agency that not only encouraged more men to enter into a sector, but we also set out to redefine the role of pastoral care,"Leith said."We wanted to utilise the skills and experience that many students, creatives, and graduates possess, individualswho could be anything from a mentor to a sports coach, nanny, or tutor,and buddy them up with families."And forthe kids attending the half-term camps,"it would be like having a teacher take them out for the day.""It's not just gender specific," he added. "We're trying to unlock new people, post-graduate students, artists, linguists, and sporty individuals that are well educated but have never seen childcare as a route of employment,but whichcould suit them perfectly in those first few years after university."Having a sporty and energetic child carer is even more important in an age where screensaredominating thelives of children of working parents more and more, according to Leith.He added that while it's still typically mums shouldering the burden of childcare ' Manny & Me has only ever been contacted by one dad 'he hopesthat by taking this scheme in-house, eventually dads will be just as comfortable with arranging childcare for the household.As for the companies, the scheme provides the opportunity to use wellness budgets in a meaningful way "instead of just putting a card behind the bar at Christmas," says Leith."We see this as a fast track for companies looking to get onto Top 100 lists, as there is nothing similar anywhere in Europe," he said.The mannies will run an initial pilot of the scheme this summer.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: The 5 workouts that burn the most calories in an hour
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