SINGLE parent Irene Bree discovered first hand how difficult it can be to arrange child care – so for the past 15 years she has voluntarily managed her own service.

And, despite being chairman of governors at three schools, the 48-year-old has found time to set up and run The Buddy Club for disadvantaged children, operated from Cheadle High School.

The unpaid organisers take youngsters on trips such as cycling, sailing, canoeing and even rock climbing.

It shows a passion for child care that Irene, of Prince Georges Street, Cheadle, has held since she was a young woman herself.

And, when her own daughter was a four-year-old, Irene set up a before- and after-school club open to any child in the town aged between three and 11.

Based at Cheadle Primary School, Cheadle Fun Club has proved a great success, with praise from both parents and education watchdog Ofsted.

Irene admitted: "It took two or three years to find our feet. To get things organised I was working well into the night and then setting my alarm to get up to finish off.

"But from small acorns big oak trees do grow and hopefully what we provide makes a real difference.

"When my daughter Harriet was a baby it was a real struggle to pay for a nanny but with our club even those on low income can afford support."

Cheadle primary headteacher Mike Prescott says Irene has given up "literally thousands of hours" for the children.

And Mr Prescott has nominated Irene in the Adult School Star category of the Staffordshire Moorlands Community Awards.

He said: "If everything else she did wasn't enough, every Saturday morning she helps to run The Buddy Club. She would be a thoroughly deserving winner."

Currently the chair of governors at both Cheadle High and Cheadle Primary, as well as at the Moorlands Sixth Form Centre, Irene set up The Buddy Club in 2004 with the help of Cheadle High teachers Jimmy Edwards and Chris Hadley.

She said: "When I was a 14-year-old I worked with disabled children as I went for my Duke of Edinburgh Award and ever since I've had a passion to help. I have been a social worker for 30 years and I get as much out of it now as I ever have done. I love it."