Employers & Funders — Work+Play Hub

Support your team through the hardest transition they'll face.

The return from maternity or parental leave is one of the most vulnerable moments in an employee's professional life. Most employers leave parents to figure it out alone. Work+Play Hub gives you a practical, affordable way to change that.

By partnering with us, you give your employees access to flexible coworking with integrated childcare — on their terms, when they need it, without a long-term commitment from either side.

The cost of getting this wrong

Research consistently shows that parents — particularly mothers — who can't find flexible, affordable childcare are more likely to leave the workforce entirely.

0of mothers reduce hours after maternity leave

0lost annually to the UK economy through maternal underemployment

How an employer partnership works

Get in touch

Tell us about your organisation and what you're trying to achieve for your employees. No obligation, just a conversation.

We build a package

We'll propose a partnership package tailored to your team size, budget, and goals — from single credits to ongoing arrangements.

Your team benefits

Employees access the hub on their terms. We handle everything — booking, childcare, support. You get regular impact updates.

💳 Staff credits

📋 Flexible working support

🌍 ESG & social value

👥 Team events

📣 Brand association

Ready to talk? We respond to every enquiry within two working days.

Get in touch →

Back a model that proves the system can change.

Work+Play Hub is Scotland's first fully integrated coworking and early years hub. We have pilot data, institutional partnerships, media visibility and a replicable model. What we need is the investment to grow.

We are a registered Scottish charity (SCIO SC053513), a Stephen Lloyd Awards 2025 finalist, and an organisation with established relationships across local government, philanthropy, early years practice, media, legal support and community development.

Our goal is not just to serve more parents in Edinburgh. It is to demonstrate a model so clearly that others can replicate it — and ultimately to shift the policy conversation around early years infrastructure and maternity support.

Pilot data

99 individuals reached across 5 Edinburgh postcodes in one week. 71% of attendance was free or subsidised. Delivered before permanent premises were secured.

Institutional credibility

Froebelian early years practice mentored and co-designed through The Play Café Project and University of Edinburgh-linked expertise. Employability support developed alongside City of Edinburgh Council.

Recognition

Stephen Lloyd Awards 2025 finalist — recognising social ventures of exceptional potential.

The opportunity in numbers

0Families already on our waiting list

0Individuals engaged during pilot phase

0Free or subsidised access delivered

0Edinburgh postcodes reached in week one

1stIntegrated coworking + early years hub in Scotland

Partnership ecosystem

Built collaboratively across sectors.

Work+Play Hub has been shaped through collaboration with public bodies, educators, community organisations, legal advisers, social innovation networks and philanthropic partners.

We believe systems change happens through ecosystems — not isolated organisations.

🏛️

Public sector partnership

City of Edinburgh Council — employability, apprenticeships, community infrastructure

Details

Employability pathways and family support developed alongside the City of Edinburgh Council, with Work+Play Hub positioned as practical community infrastructure for parents returning to work, training or enterprise.

We operate from Inch House Community Centre in South Edinburgh, with venue support from Inch House Association within a City of Edinburgh Council community asset. Our employability support is delivered by PES staff on-site or by referral, at no cost to members.

🎓

Academic & Froebelian advisory

University of Edinburgh — early years practice and methodology

Details

Our early years environment is being mentored and co-designed with Froebelian specialists through The Play Café Project and University of Edinburgh-linked expertise, ensuring our crèche is grounded in evidence-based early childhood practice.

This partnership gives funders confidence that our early years provision is methodologically rigorous, not simply well-intentioned.

⚖️

Pro bono strategic support

Bates Wells, PicklesBucket — legal, governance, brand

Details

Legal, governance, brand and communications expertise contributed through partners including Bates Wells (one of the UK's leading social enterprise law firms) and PicklesBucket, strengthening organisational readiness, legal compliance and long-term credibility.

The calibre of pro bono support we have attracted is itself a signal of the confidence the social enterprise ecosystem has in this model.

🏘️

Community-rooted delivery

South Edinburgh — built with and for the families we serve

Details

Built with local organisations, parents, practitioners, funders and neighbourhood partners across South Edinburgh, creating a model grounded in real family need rather than assumed demand.

Our pilot data — 99 individuals reached across 5 Edinburgh postcodes in our first week, 71% on free or subsidised access — reflects the community need this model meets.

Recognition & momentum

Early traction before full launch.

Work+Play Hub is already generating funder, media, employer and community interest because it answers a problem many systems are struggling to solve.

🏆 Finalist Stephen Lloyd Awards 2025 — recognising exceptional potential in early-stage social ventures across the UK.

📰 Media visibility Featured by MADE Magazine, That's TV Lothian, Yahoo Finance and Better Life Lab before permanent premises were secured.

🤝 Multi-sector support Partnerships across public sector, philanthropy, academia, legal and community established pre-launch — a rare signal of confidence in an early-stage model.

Designed to scale

Designed to be replicable.

Work+Play Hub has been intentionally designed as a model that can be adapted by councils, housing associations, universities, employers and community anchor organisations.

Our long-term ambition is to develop a replicable framework for integrated coworking, childcare and parental wellbeing support in communities across Scotland and beyond.

We are not simply opening a venue. We are testing what future family infrastructure could become.

A community asset with a replicable model.

Work+Play Hub already works in partnership with Edinburgh City Council to deliver employability support, foundational apprenticeships and creative programmes on-site. We are looking to deepen that relationship and build new ones with councils, housing associations, and community anchor organisations who want to bring this model to their areas.

Our Foundational Apprenticeship Programme, in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council, creates pathways for young people into business admin while building our own skilled team.

If you are a council, housing association, or community organisation and you want to explore how this model could work in your area — we would love to talk.

Current council partnerships

We are actively developing a Foundational Apprenticeship Programme in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council, creating a pipeline of trained young professionals in business administration.