LOCAL woman is offering a host of services to parents with children in school in the United Kingdom.

Having realised that the logistics present a cause of concern to many residents, Gloria Dismont began offering a range of child-minding services to parents unable to fulfil certain functions.

With the assistance of a couple based in the UK, she is willing to provide a wide array of assistance to parents.

Among the services included, they will:

Meet students at the airport and escort them safely to their school or an appointed address.

Meet children at school or a railway line and accompany them to the airport.

Vet prospective schools.

Buy birthday gifts and cakes.

Organise days or weekends out from school.

Order and deliver school uniforms, and,

House pupils for short periods of time.

"Those are just some of the services we are pleased to offer and undertake," said Mrs. Dismont. "I've been thinking about doing something like this for ages."

Although a Bermuda resident, she spends a great deal of time in England and has known her partners, Bill and Maggie Stephens, for 30-odd years.

"When my kids were of school age, I had friends who had to deal with such problems all the time. I was recently talking with a friend who had been in boarding school while his parents were in India.

"Because they were so far away, he couldn't travel to see them over weekend holidays and neither were they always able to visit him.

"On many occasions he would have to stay at school unless he was invited to the home of a friend and I'd imagine that today so many professional couples are now, similarly, finding it difficult to go back and forth because of work commitments."

She explained that Mr. Stephens had spent several years in sales, working for Walt Disney Productions in London but had since decided to start his own company ? the resulting freedom enabled him the opportunity to cater to students.

Once their children reached adulthood, Mrs. Stephens resumed work as a child caregiver. For the past decade, she has worked in that field, first in private service and more recently working for a nursery school.

"They're willing to pick them up from the airport and take them to school or even to family members, if they're quite a way away," Mrs. Dismont said.

"Another service we offer is that we will physically go and inspect potential schools for parents and give a report back to them based on what they're looking for.

"It is difficult to visit every school you're inter"It is difficult to visit every school you're interested in and the Internet isn't always reliable. It doesn't always give an accurate account."

She added that she felt the service could be especially helpful should an emergency arise.

"If a child is expelled or if they suddenly need to be taken away from school, parents can contact (the Stephens) or me.

"My main role will be as co-ordinator," she said, explaining that she is usually in England from June through the end of summer each year.

"In the event of any emergency, they can pick the child up and keep them until the parents get over."

She admitted the service would probably be limited to England as the Stephens family are based in Watford ? conveniently located for Heathrow and Luton and easily accessible to Gatwick.

Mrs. Dismont added that her family relocated from Bermuda to England for many years and, while there, she received several calls from friends with children in boarding schools eager for her assistance in a variety of matters.

"Of course, some of the children do have relatives but what if they happen to be away? You can't really rely on others to always be there. Everyone has their own life to live. They can't spend their whole time put because they might have to look after someone else's kids."

The cost of the service will be determined on a case-by-case basis, the charge levied according to a parent's specific need.

"It's difficult to say as it depends on what we do," she explained. "It's sometimes difficult for parents to be there at the beginning or end of term.

"Many people have said it would be much easier if there was someone in the UK who could deal with matters on their behalf. It's because of those challenges that we decided to offer selected care minding services. We can do when parents are not able to."