Footsteps Community Comes Together to Build a Village
15 August 2014
Innovative early-childhood education provider Footsteps is building a village out of playhouses to underline the role of
community collaboration in nurturing a child’s early development and helping them to reach their full potential.
Together with representatives of community stakeholder groups, next Tuesday 19th August at a site at Ardmore Air Base, Footsteps 70-strong staff will transform eight purpose-built playhouses to represent the
extended community - or village, that surrounds a child and impacts their life-long learning.
In a team-based challenge, each playhouse will be designed and decorated to physically resemble a core element of the
village - such as a home, a school, a hospital, a police station and a fire station. Representatives of these various
community stakeholders are joining with Footsteps to participate in the challenge in a demonstration of collaboration
across the community, and in support of the project’s message.
“We all have an opportunity to make a positive impact on a child’s life,” says Donna Elliot, Footsteps National
Community Director. “By pulling our strengths together we maximise the opportunities for each and every child.”
Following completion of the playhouse challenge, the fully “pimped-out” playhouses will be donated to nominated children
and/or organisations, with a couple reserved for charitable auction on Trademe. Auction proceeds will go to the
Footsteps Foundation, a charitable trust which, in partnership with other like-minded organisations, invests in creating
opportunities for children who do not meet Footsteps’ Ministry of Education funding criteria.
Ms Elliot says the playhouse village project celebrates a positive message that is relevant for all children in all
communities. “We all have the opportunity to help nurture a child’s sense of self-worth and belonging. Think about your
own childhood - the experiences that you hold dear will be those where someone took the time to give you the time you
needed, and really listened to what mattered to you.”
The playhouse challenge will take place during the Footsteps National Conference, when every year the organisation comes
together and invests in local community.
About Footsteps and the Footsteps Foundation
Footsteps is an in-home early childhood education (ECE) provider that has been serving New Zealand families and
communities for more than a decade. The organisation operates nationwide, providing free in-home educational programmes
to children aged 0-6 (pre-school) and their caregivers who meet Ministry of Education criteria for funded home-based
early education. Footsteps qualified early education teachers spend one-on-one time with caregivers and children
providing guidance, resources, instruction and information on how to deliver quality educational experiences for
children in their care.
The Footsteps Foundation, a charitable organisation, actively invests in local communities through volunteering
expertise and resources, by running events that promote positive early experiences and by raising funds for children
that need in-home early education support but currently fall outside the Ministry of Education funding criteria.
ENDS