Volunteer story – Chevaughan

Chevaughan attends Parkside Playcentre in South Canterbury with her two sons, Oakley 2.5 years and Benji 9 months. She currently holds the President and Treasurer office holder roles.

“Doing the office holder roles keeps me busy which is nice. I’m a newly single/solo Mum, so it’s nice to have something to do at the end of the night when the kids are asleep and I’m on my own.”

“Our centre’s great. If you’re going through some tough times and you don’t think you can take on an office holder role then that’s fine, you just take on something small. Then when you’ve got more availability, you step up and help someone else that might be going back to work or having a baby. Volunteering at Playcentre is all about working as a team. You do what you can when you can.”

Attending Playcentre has given Chevaughan confidence as a first-time mother and a support network as a solo parent.

“Playcentre gave me some stability when I was struggling as a first-time mum. It’s given me newly found confidence and re-assurance of myself as a mum. We love Playcentre!”

“I have definitely made some friendships that will last past when we leave Playcentre one day. I’ve got a support network that I can get hold of if I need to get out of the house or need a break from my kids. They’ll say “yeah, come over and have a coffee.”

Chevaughan says both her and her children love Playcentre.

“We feel like we are part of a village. You come in and someone will be like “would you like me to make you a coffee” and they’ll ask, “how was your weekend.” Knowing that I’ve got somewhere to go and someone to ask me how everything’s going is just – it means a lot.”

“My oldest boy and one of the girls here are best friends. He asks me every morning if his best friend will be at Playcentre.”

“We love coming, we actually hate being off for school holidays.”