Now, the granny creche

The whole issue of providing adequate childcare facilities for working parents has received a lot of "air time" over recent years. Parents need places to care for their children while they work and nurseries, creches and after-school clubs have sprung up to fill the need.

But what about households where both partners work and the person to be cared for is not a child but an elderly relative? The facilities for childcare may not be perfect, but they are significantly more developed than those for older people.

In many cases having a dependent elderly relative means that one person has to give up his or her job to care for them which may present a major financial problem for the household. If the relative is less dependent, both partners may continue to work but often with a degree of anxiety if they are worried about a domestic mishap in their absence.

Peugeot in association with the British motor industry charity, BEN, has come up with one solution to the problem. It has located a day care centre for older people a stone's throw away from its main plant in Coventry. The car company donated a chunk of land and some money to BEN, the British Racing Drivers' Club came up with another £100,000 and BEN set about raising the rest of the £250,000 required to fund the construction of the purpose-built facility. The centre is open to relatives of Peugeot employees as well as to dependents of anyone with a motor industry connection working in the area.

The centre is located on part of a Peugeot car park so it's smack in the middle of a heavy industrial area. But the setting seems to appeal to the centre's users rather than put them off.

"Some might argue that the surroundings are not very aesthetic, but you have to remember that many of the elderly people coming here have lived and worked all their lives in this area so it feels very much like home to them," explains Sheila Cooper, director of welfare services for BEN.

"It also needs to be close to where they live and convenient for their relatives if it's to be of any use to them. We have it all laid out very nicely with an enclosed garden where people can sit out in the summer or can potter if they are up to doing a bit of gardening.

"The thinking is to relieve some of the burden of caring for elderly relatives from the shoulders of younger working members of the family. This should then allow the latter to concentrate on their work better, freed up from the stress of worrying about a loved one at home."

Designed to cater for 25 people, the centre has an activities room, lounge, dining room, assisted bathrooms, hairdressing salon, small laundry and a special room using light and sound to help calm people who are agitated or distressed. Attached to the centre, but separate from it is a lunch club where older people who are more independent can come for a midday meal and some company.

The centre is up and running just under a year and initially it will operate five days a week. However, as demand builds up, usage is expected to increase and the opening hours may be tailored to fit in with the working shifts at local plants. The cost of using the centre is £15 a day while the lunch clubbers pay £5 a day.

"We have basically split the centre in two," explains Cooper. "One section caters for the frail elderly who need full care and the other is for more active older people who come for a few hours a day. As far as we know it's unique - although other companies are now picking up on the idea. We think it's the first time that the commercial and voluntary sectors have come together in this way."

The unusual aspect of the project, she says, is that, although Peugeot has provided the land and an initial grant and interest-free loan to the centre, the company is happy for the centre to be used by others in the motor industry. "Because the centre is right beside the plant those who have relatives here can nip over at lunch time if they want to. We will collect those who need transport to get here and we can provide personal care facilities such assisted bathing which can be a big help to a family which doesn't have these facilities at home."

John Stewart works in Peugeot's warranty department. His mother-in-law is 78 and attends the centre two days a week. "We really appreciate having the centre and the special bathing facilities in particular because my mother-in-law is incapacitated," he says.

"Before the centre opened she either had to have bed baths all the time which is not very satisfactory - or we had to hire a private ambulance at a cost of £50 and bring her to a private nursing home where she could have a bath which cost £18. Now she goes to the centre two days a week and they bathe her and do her hair and she has a friend there who does her nails and it gives her a real perk up.

The centre has greatly improved her quality of life, says Stewart. "It's meant a lot for her dignity. It has been great for us too because I work full-time and my wife works part-time and when my mother-in-law is at the centre we know she is getting the best of care and our minds are at rest."

Staff and volunteers are fully trained so that people coming to the centre get individual attention and care, says Sheila Cooper. "It's a really big problem for working people if they are constantly worried about a frail relative at home who is not eating or prone to wandering off. Full-time residential care is simply not an option in many cases so people are trying to work and cope with the situation at home at the same time. We feel this centre is a very positive step towards giving them some peace of mind."