Maternity Allowance

Hi fellow mums-to-bes/Mums.  This is my first post on here but looking for a bit of advice.  I have a bit of a strange situation in work...

I'm not entitled to statutory maternity pay as I started my current job when 8 weeks pregnant.  This in itself is not a problem as I'm able to claim Maternity Allowance.

However, I've been very lucky to have a really supportive boss who doesn't agree that I should have to 'trek to the job centre every week with a newborn' when I'm in full time employment - I didn't bother to set him straight that this isn't actually the case!  He wants to see if there's any way the company can pay me some kind of maternity pay rather than going through the job centre.  I've told him that unfortunately its the revenue's decision not his as to whether I receive SMP but he's determined to see what can be done.  I really appreciate his concern for me but don't want to do anything that jeopordises my eligability for MA!

It's a very small company so I don't have an HR team to turn to but was just wondering whether anyone knows whether the company are able to offer me some kind of maternity package even though in the eyes of the revenue I am not entitled to anything!  I realise this is quite a nice problem to have but its baffling me!

Katy x