Volunteer story – Dani

Dani describes volunteering at her centre as a gradual journey.  She says volunteering comes in lots of shapes and sizes; from making a cup of tea for a new member to organising a fundraising event to fixing a broken toy. Dani puts volunteering this way: “It is a way to contribute a little part of yourself while deepening your sense of belonging to the centre and feeding into your wellbeing in return”. 

She says she moved districts when her son was quite young.  She was looking for somewhere to get to know new families and be alongside her child; “but I didn’t expect to find my village and such a supportive network”.

Parenthood has turned out completely differently than we anticipated as our incredible 6-year-old son bravely navigates his childhood with a rare genetic syndrome resulting in the daily hurdles of global developmental delay and severe epilepsy. He gifts us with a much broader perspective on the beauty of life. 

“Being involved in Playcentre has been totally foundational to my kaupapa as a parent and advocate for him. Without my Playcentre grounding I don’t think I would have had as much confidence and direction to advocate for him as strongly as I have in the health and education sectors. Playcentre’s child led philosophy has the compassion and flexibility to travel along with the flow of any child’s early years. I think Playcentre is a beautiful place to embrace difabilities and celebrate the unique learning journeys of our all our diverse superpower tamariki out there”. 

He whakatauki. Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini.

Success is not the work of one but the work of many.