Hi Paula,
sorry for the slow reply.
CoTech is currently only open to co-ops, rather than individuals so you can’t join on your own I’m afraid. We’ve investigated various ways of trying to bridge the gap (e.g. this Discourse forum, creating a freelancer’s co-op, inviting non-members as guests to events). Of course we’d ideally like to be in a position where anyone who wants to work for a CoTech company can do so, but we’re a little way away from that at the moment.
A group of CoTech members did organise a summer camp which was intended to be more open and accessible than Wortley Hall. I think they had a good time, but were a bit disappointed by the attendance so probably aren’t planning another one in that format.
Regarding childcare, one of my colleagues is planning to bring their ~1 year old, I believe. If others are planning on bringing young ones it would be nice to co-cooperatively care for them but for some reason no one ever seems keen on me organising Outlandish childcare. Maybe it’s the name.
Hopefully we’ll find a way to integrate you soon 
Have you tried contacting @liam and @shaun who are both based in Manchester I believe and might know of some co-opportunities (sorry about that).