At the recently held British Au Pair Agencies Association (BAPAA) Annual General Meeting, Sandra Landau stepped down as the BAPAA Chair after serving in this position for 11 years.
The assembled membership elected Rebecca Haworth-Wood from A2Z Au Pairs as their new Chairperson.
Rebecca is one of the founding members of BAPAA, and has had a continuously active role in multiple positions on the Executive committee since its establishment in 2004, varying from treasurer, to being responsible for interviewing new members, and as the BAPAA representative on the European Committee for Au Pair Standards (ECAPS), for a number of years.
Rebecca explains her vision as Chair of BAPAA; “I will do my very best to enhance our [BAPAA agencies] reputation and improve our standing within the UK. I will strive for BAPAA Au Pairs to be recognised by the UK government as different to those placed without any guidance or checks.
I believe we must combat internet recruitment by promoting our traditional values while embracing the strengths of social media and modern technology. We need to appeal to Au Pairs as well as families – more open BAPAA regional face book Au Pair groups would enhance our Au Pair friend’s website and promote the BAPAA message to Au Pairs who don’t currently use reputable agencies – it is a question of supply and demand – If we are going to ethically beat the internet we have to appeal to the Au Pairs and get them back and gain greater recognition of BAPAA within government.
As Chair I plan to use my experience to lead BAPAA through future challenges/crises as they arise.”
IAPA congratulates Rebecca with her appointment as Chair of BAPAA and looks forward to a continuing fruitful cooperation.