Volunteer Opportunities

Collette

I am an adopted Cestrian as I am a Liverpudlian who has lived in Chester since 1984 and my three children, and now some of my nine grandchildren, attended school in Chester. I have great memories of my childhood, being brought up on a council estate in Liverpool where people cared for each other, usually in the simplest of ways, and that’s why KidsBank struck a chord with me. 

I have always involved myself in charity work, I can remember going with my mum to help out at local events. As a teacher and headteacher, the schools where I have worked actively supported various charity events but also cared for the school communities in a more subtle and discrete way, when it was needed – a helping hand! . I am a trustee on the board of a charity, working with foster carers in Malawi and visited Malawi in 2015. I have volunteered at an orphanage in Romania, three times. Those visits were very humbling in so many ways but, as with KidsBank, it was the generosity of people back home who donated essential goods, toys, toiletries etc. for me to take out there that epitomized kindness and care for children they don’t know.

In August 2021 I retired from full time work after working for 34 years in primary education, including  17 years as a primary school headteacher in Liverpool. I am still involved with primary education but retirement has given me the opportunity and time to explore other interests as well as giving a helping hand to my local community in Cheshire through Kids Bank.