Welcome to SunnyAuPairs!
Sunny Au Pairs was set up in 2001 by Susi and Rob Northen. We decided to set up the site when, after using au pair agencies ourselves for our four boys when they were younger (now aged 9, 11, 14 and 15), we always seemed to feel disappointed with the service and the amount of money we had to part with, usually running into hundreds and hundreds of pounds.
We would speak to friends in the same position, who would contact an agency, pay a huge registration fee (anything up to £100.00) then have to fork out another few hundred when they found an au pair. If the au pair then left before the end of the placement but after the trial period, back they would have to go and pay another few hundred pounds to find another au pair.
At the end of the day, everyone knows that the majority of au pairs do stay for the whole of their placement, but there are also quite a few who don’t. And that’s fine. Because au pairs are not Nannies, Au pairing is not a career. But that’s where we felt the more traditional agency was cashing in.
Our aim, at Sunny Au Pairs is to give the family AND the au pair as much information as possible, including references, photos and medical certificates, whilst also allowing both to communicate freely before coming to an agreement on a placement WITHOUT THE WORRY OF SPENDING HUNDREDS OF POUNDS. Not only that, being web based allows the family and the au pair to search at any time, convenient to them, rather than waiting for the agency to call them with a ‘possible’.
We also felt it was important to provide as much information about having an au pair in the home as possible together with advice where applicable, what it means to be an au pair and who can be an au pair. We aim to provide this in the easiest format possible, with easy navigation, so that families and au pairs are more or less self sufficient on the site but also safe in the knowledge that we are here for back-up at any time either via email or telephone.
We have received such a fabulous response from families and au pairs all over Europe as well as many other parts of the world and this has fuelled our determination not only to carry on but also to continue improving Sunny Au Pairs to provide our families and au pairs with a website that is user friendly, easily navigated and visually attractive.
Traffic to our site has increased to such an extent that we have now had to take the rather big but exciting step of moving from a shared server to our very own dedicated server, which will allow us greater independence and an ability to have an even greater database.
We know there are now many many au pair sites out there on the net. Most of them (if not all) charge their au pairs in some way, which we have never done and have no plans to do and we believe is not the right thing to do. We are nearly always available to speak on the telephone (sometimes quite late at night too!) and we are always here to offer advice and support to both our au pairs and families whether on the phone or via email. We have lots and lots of experience dealing with au pairs and families and most, if not all, come back to us time and time again.
We love our job, we love talking to our families and au pairs so don’t ever be afraid to telephone! We know that computers can sometimes be difficult so do please ring with any problem you might have using the site – it’s our speciality!
Well, that’s it, hope you have enjoyed reading about us! We hope you register with us whether au pair or family – we look forward to hearing from you!
Susi Northen
Sunny Online Limited