Cathy Willis is a proud to be part of the East Coast Bays Community Crèche in Browns Bay. The local mum got involved after the birth of her third child three years ago and is now Chairperson of the fundraising committee. Before her involvement with the crèche, Cathy worked as a personal assistant and had a career in events and sponsorship. She loves the strong connection to the community that the crèche provides and the friendships with the families within it. This month she tells readers about her work and why it’s so rewarding.
COURTNEY BENNETT: Why are you passionate about community?
CATHY WILLIS: I love getting involved in anything that brings people together.
CB: Tell readers about East Coast Bays Community Crèche.
CW: The Crèche is a small centre that is really at the heart of Browns Bay. It is lead by teachers with a ton of passion for early childhood education, but who also want to help families.
CB: What local events at The Crèche do you personally look forward to?
CW: We are now creating more events for crèche families to attend like our International Lunch to celebrate our diverse families, Blokes Brunch on Fathers Day weekend, Christmas on the Green and last year our very first and hugely successful Quiz Night.
My favourite is the Matariki Celebration and shared hangi. Our families provide the vegetables and The Crèche provides the meat and activities. On average we have about 230 people come to share in the celebration.
CB: What’s the local support for the crèche like?
CW: Mums, Dads and Grandparents often come in and do parent help during Crèche sessions. This is of great support to the teachers and enables parents to see the Crèche in action.
CB: What do you most enjoy about your role?
CW: Meeting new people and sharing new ideas. Our fundraising board is made up of stay-at-home or part time working Mums; these ladies have a wealth of skills and ideas. Everything we have done as a team over the last 18 months has been down to their hard work.
CB: How crucial is the support of the local community?
CW: This is so very important! Our Quiz Night would not have been a success without the very generous donations from The Crèche families and the surrounding local businesses for the silent and live auctions.
CB: What’s the best part about living (and working) in the Bays?
CW: Being so close to our amazing beaches has to be the best part. The Crèche also takes advantage of being so close to the beach by taking smaller groups of children down to the park to learn about our environment.
CB: What do you do in your spare time?
CW: What spare time! Looking after my children, helping my partner run our residential building business and helping out at The Crèche.
CB: If I weren’t at the East Coast Bays Community Centre crèche I would be....
CW: This would mean I didn’t have any children so I would be travelling the world, sipping cocktails on the beach!
Channel Magazine: Issuu 68 August 2016
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