An app that allows parents to search for and book activities for their children has been launched across Surrey by a former professional rugby player and sports agent.

Emanuele Palladino, who played for Harlequins and Saracens, the Italy U21s and top Italian teams, began Yellow Days after finding difficulty booking activities for his own three children.

He and business partner David Robinson spent a couple of years building an app that aims to do for children’s activities what the likes of Amazon, Deliveroo and booking.com have done for the retail, travel and hospitality industries.

The name was inspired by his son Teo who was colouring in a picture of his baby brother.  

“It was all yellow,” Emanuele said. “I asked him why and he said because his brother was ‘happy all over’ so the idea for the Yellow Days name was born.”

Emanuele, who was born and raised in Epsom to an Italian father, has vast experience in children’s activities, having run training academies for rugby stars, including Brian O’Driscoll, Gareth Thomas, Gregor Townsend and Josh Lewsey  when he retired from playing.

“We see all these apps to help us improve how we shop, book travel, find accommodation and eat food,” he said.

“Yet there is nothing out there to help busy juggling parents book childcare and activities. So I decided to do something about it.”

“At Yellow Days we want to simplify life for parents, whilst amplifying the profile of the businesses who run these activities. They are the heroes in this.” 

“Companies such as Stagecoach Theatre Schools, Activate Camps, Barracudas and Camp Beaumont have supported us from the off, as well as smaller more regional companies such as NS Sports, Bop Stars and Children’s Activity Group.”

Emanuele said he is keen to include activities for children with special needs.

“My sister has a child with Down’s Syndrome, so I know how difficult and time-consuming it can be to find appropriate activities and providers.”

He said Yellow Days includes small providers of activities and all ore vetted.

“You can search for activities by various criteria, or browse to find new things.”

Emanuele is expanding  coverage from Surrey and London across the South East and aims to include the whole country and beyond, so that families on holiday can use a trusted method to find things for the children to do.

“The aim is to save parents time;  they only need one account to book all their activities, and to help businesses reach customers more easily.”

Yellow Days is free to use and for providers to register. A fee is taken from the provider when an activity is booked.

For each booking, Yellow Days makes a donation to buy breakfast for a child at risk of hunger.

“We want to help provide children across the UK who are at risk of hunger with the most important meal of the day,” Emanuele said.

Eating breakfast helps children to concentrate at school, encouraging them to grow in confidence.”

For more information, visit https://about.yellowdays.com.