Lianne has been volunteering at the Levin Playcentre for 40 years.
Lianne has been volunteering at the Levin Playcentre for 40 years.
Levin’s Playcentre has looked after preschoolers for 75 years and for 40 of those years volunteer Lianne has been an intrigal part.
“If I am away because I am sick, they miss me and are glad when I come back,” she said.
“I love children. I am an auntie of five kids and I love that too.”
The playcentre started in 1946 at St Mary’s Anglican Church Hall and moved to its current location on Paisley St in 1961, with the land bought in 1959.
Lianne, who suffers from epilepsy and has cerebral palsy, fulfils the multi-sided role of assistant with great aplomb. She has never let her own limitations and personal struggle interfere with her passion for the playcentre children.
Lianne is a very popular volunteer, who helps out where she can, always with a smile.
She sets up for the morning, teaches mums how to make play-dough and do fingerpainting. She sorts the kids’ artworks, reads to the kids and generally supports children and parents however needed. She also makes coffee and holds babies.
“I love being here so much. The mums make me welcome and let me hold their babies.”
She said she got to know several generations within families over the years. Many of them remember her when they see her in the street.
Her mother takes her to work three days a week, though in the past she would come by herself, using a mobility scooter.
“Amazingly this is a voluntary role, but the passion and dedication she’s putting into this is fabulous,” said playcentre facilitator Carolyn Walton, who’s been at the playcentre for the past 17 years and knows Lianne very well.
“Lianne really is missed when she is not here, but it is also a chance for the kids to jump on her chair.”
Lianne has done first aid training and kept that skill up-to-date, attended meetings and workshops and did play centre training too.
“She’s stuck with the whole thing.”
She came to volunteer at the centre 40 years ago when her support worker introduced her to the playcentre and she was hooked from the first minute.
“We call her ‘the boss’, which means she can do what she likes, whenever she wants. No need for her to wait for the coffee break to make herself a drink,” said Carolyn.
