Coast childcare service that won't break the bank

A childcare service for as litle as $45 a day has been hiding on the Sunshine Coast.

PLAY TIME: Summer Rae (left) and Sophia (right) love spending time at the Maroochy Occasional Child Care Centre. Picture: Eden Boyd

PARENTS rejoice! A childcare service that won't break the bank has been hiding at the Maroochydore Neighbourhood Centre.

The Maroochy Occasional Care Service offers flexible childcare for busy parents for as little at $45 a day.

Allowing walk-ins, parents are able to drop off their 18-month to 6-year-old children at the centre for any period of time.

Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre CEO Michael Henning said there was "a great deal of intimacy” between the staff and the kids, with capacity capping out at 21 children.

"Parents absolutely love that,” he said.

"We've had generational kids coming through, that's how much people enjoy our service,” he said.

Occasional care services are far few and between, with only three still running across Queensland since funding was no longer accessible.

"There's really only two major options provided by the government; kindergarten care and long day care,” Mr Henning said.

"We decided not to do either of those options because we want to get into complimentary care, rather than competitive care.”

As a non-funded program, the centre relies on their fees and their generous volunteers to keep them up and running.

However, curriculum wise, the Maroochy occasional service is in line with other childcare options.

Maroochy Occasional Care Service Team Leader Katie Chauvier said she does "a program every week for the kids that is based on all their developmental areas”.

Ms Chauvier said her favourite part of her job was watching the children grow individually.

"They're all so different, and they grow at their own pace,” she said.

Despite the lack of funding, the centre does not struggle financially to care for their enrolled children, Mr Henning said.

"Our main struggles at the moment is really getting enough families into the centre.

"If we get the numbers in, the funding isn't a major problem for us,” he said.

The occasional care service runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 9.30am to 2.30pm.