A WOMAN who goes ‘above and beyond’ to take care of children has been crowned Babysitter of the Year.

The UK’s largest childcare platform, Childcare.co.uk has revealed the best babysitter in the UK, after running its first Babysitter of the Year awards.

Susan Welsh from Wareham has been crowned Babysitter of the Year in the South West category after members of the public were asked to vote for their favourite over a two-week period in January.

The awards aim to recognise the hard work babysitters and Ms Welsh was one that stood out from the hundreds of contestants.

Ms Welsh was described as being “fantastic” with the children she looks after as well as being a “reliable and dependable” babysitter.

She will receive a year’s free Childcare membership as well as the prestige of being the UK’s Babysitter of the Year in the South West category.

Childcare.co.uk has added a badge to her profile so that parents will be able to see that she owns the 2018 title for her region.

Voters were asked to consider babysitter attributes including their punctuality, flexibility, if they are responsible, friendly with children, confident, knowledgeable and their value for money.

Childcare.co.uk created the awards to acknowledge the sometimes-overlooked good work babysitters do daily, and the crucial role they play in childcare and society. The platform has more than 300,000 babysitters registered on the site nationally.

Childcare.co.uk is a platform which allows parents to search for and connect with babysitters, childminders, nannies, nurseries, private tutors and schools and also allows childcare providers to advertise their services. The site has more than 1.5 million users nationwide and is the largest online community for parents in the UK having launched in 2009.

Richard Conway, founder of childcare.co.uk, said: “Babysitting is an often overlooked childcare service, which is unfortunate considering how needed they are in society – I bet every family has needed one at some point. This is why we wanted to celebrate the great work they do, and it didn’t seem fair for us to pick a babysitter based on current reviews. We wanted to open it up to the public so all of the 300,000 babysitters on our site could be in with a chance.

“Susan Welsh is a very deserving winner, she obviously goes above and beyond for the children she takes care of and is a true asset to the parents. I hope Susan takes full advantage of the crown she now wears.”