Spotlight on ... Natasha Ellery
Rosie Bernard
Monday, October 5, 2015
Natasha Ellery, manager at Paws Nursery School, Warfield, Berkshire
Why did you decide to collect donations for the refugee crisis?
I noticed a post on Facebook by a local group called Gossip Girls for Refugees, asking about drop-off points for donations. I thought it would be nice for the children at our nursery to get involved and do something for other children who are less fortunate than they are.
Have you received a lot of donations?
In total we received two to three carloads of donations, which we then drove to the local unit to be passed on to refugees in Hungary and Greece. We were given a real mix of items - practical things like toiletries and clothes, as well as some toys from the children. A lot of those were from our children and their parents.
We volunteered our nursery as a drop-off point, so the children also helped to sort out different items like boys' and girls' clothes, and to pack the car up.
Have the children enjoyed taking part?
To help our children understand the issue we started off by asking them questions like, 'Where do you go to bed at night?', 'What do you have for breakfast?' and 'What kind of toys do you play with at nursery?'. We talked about the fact that not all children are fortunate enough to have those things. The children were great at coming up with ideas to help.
