WEST AUCKLAND PARENTS CENTRE
MINUTES FOR 28th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON 17th June 2009
7.30PM – 9.30PM
AT KELSTON COMMUNITY CENTRE, GREAT NORTH RD, KELSTON
7.30pm
7.41pm
Joan Hay spoke about Mary Dobbie, whose funeral it was today. Joan Hay attended the funeral with
Viv Gurrey representing Parents Centre New Zealand Inc. Mary was one of the founding mothers of
Parents Centre NZ Inc
Minutes Silence for Mary Dobbie
Meeting Opens
Attendees: Joan Hay, Eileen Joy, Fiona Fraser, Nienke Slotbloom, Rebecca Lamb, Julie Matthews, Ruth
Murphy, Hannah Eyre, Nikki Shepherd, Nicola Yelash, Gaylene Ward, Anthony Ward, Rebecca
Samways, Alsa Kemys, Helen Ashford, Andrea Follington, Suzanne Irving, Charlotte Whiter, Emma
Collins, Nicola Mapletoft, Jasmine Samountry
Apologies: Lexi Lauchlan, Lesley Standeven-Kim, Monica Silveira, Amanda Perry, Hassanah Rudd
7.42pm
Motion to accept Apologies
Moved by: Eileen Joy
Seconded by: Alsa Kemys
CARRIED
Previous Minutes to be received and accepted
7.39pm
7.40pm
7.40pm


Rebecca Samways name was spelt incorrectly
Meeting was not held at the Kelston Community Centre. Was held at 37, Matuhi Rise,
Henderson
7.50pm
Motion to accept Annual General Meeting Minutes for March 2008
Moved by: Eileen Joy
Seconded by: Fiona Fraser
CARRIED
Matters Arising From Previous Minutes
7.45pm
 None
Eileen Joy read the Annual Report for 2008
Appendices 1 – Annual Report for 2008
Changes to be included
 Gaylene Ward’s impending birth to be mentioned
 Joan Hay thanks Eileen Joy, Charlotte Whiter, Alsa Kemys, Rebecca Lamb and Ruth Murphy for
writing a clear and concise Annual Report

Joan Hay also wants to thank committee for Supporting Walt Disney Library Story-time during
2008
8.10pm
Resolution to accept Annual Report for 2008
Moved by: Eileen Joy
Seconded by: Charlotte Whiter
CARRIED
Ruth Murphy repeated statements from Annual Report. Eileen Joy thanked Alsa Kemys for her work
with the advertisers and the newsletter, and also thanked the CBE’s for their consistency.
8.20pm
Appendices 2 – Audited Financial Report 31 March 2009
Resolution to accept Financial Report for 2008
Moved by: Andrea Follington
Seconded by: Ruth Murphy
CARRIED
Election of Officers:
Andrea Follington called for nominations for President
Eileen Joy nominated for position of Co-President
Moved By: Andrea Follington
Seconded By:, Julie Matthews
Carried
Charlotte Whiter nominated for position of Co-President
Moved By: Eileen Joy
Seconded By: Rebecca Lamb
Carried
Andrea Follington called for nominations for Vice-President

no nominations
Eileen Joy called for nominations for Treasurer
Andrea Follington nominated for position of Co-Treasurer
Moved By: Ruth Murphy
Seconded By: Charlotte Whiter
Carried
Ruth Murphy nominated for position of Co-Treasurer
Moved By: Andrea Follington
Seconded By: Eileen Joy
Carried
Eileen Joy called for nominations for Secretary
Andrea Follington nominated for position of Co-Secretary
Moved By: Charlotte Whiter
Seconded By: Rebecca Lamb
Carried
Ruth Murphy nominated for position of Co-Secretary
Moved By: Julie Matthews
Seconded By: Alsa Kemys
Carried
Eileen Joy called for the Committee to be-instated as a single group
Moved By: Eileen Joy
Seconded By: Charlotte Whiter
Carried
Eileen Joy called for nominations for Honorary Auditor
8.18pm
Moved By: Eileen Joy
Seconded By: Ruth Murphy
Carried
Eileen Joy called for nominations for Honorary and Life members

no nominations
8.20pm
Annual General Meeting closed – by Eileen Joy.
Gifts for committee members given out by Charlotte Whiter and Eileen Joy (Hot Chocolate pack plus
Thank You Cards
Other Business
8.23pm
Volunteer of the Month
Charlotte Whiter presented Eileen Joy with flowers for Volunteer of the Month, for all her hard work
being co-president and covering other roles whilst they’ve been vacant. She has dedicated much of
her life to leading WAPC since she took over the role.
8.27pm
Door prizes drawn. Winners were
8.36pm
8.39pm
8.40pm
1) Charlotte Whiter
2) Rebecca Lamb
3) Ruth Murphy
4) Joan Hay
5) Nienke Slotbloom
6) Fiona Fraser
7) Andrea Follington
8) Hannah Eyre
9) Julie Matthews
10) Nikki Shepherd
11) Emma Collins
12) Nicola Yelash
13) Jasmine
14) Gaylene Ward
15) Eileen Joy
16) Helen Ashford
17) Ant
18) Rebecca Samways
19) Alsa Kemys
20) Nicola
Meeting on July 2nd at Onehunga for Auckland Regional Parents Centre meeting. Eileen Joy is
attending and invites all other members to attend.
Cannon photos for a cause (competition). Members to look through the photos and list their 3
favorites.
Meeting Closed.
True and Correct Copy
Signed
Title
Date
Appendices 1 – Annual Report 2008
WEST AUCKLAND PARENTS CENTRE
Annual Report
For Year January 2008 to March 2009
Introduction
West Auckland Parents Centre is pleased to present the Annual Report for the 15 months ending March 2009. The report
describes our position in terms of our goals for 2008/9. Please note that the Financial Year for Parents Centres New
Zealand Inc was changed this year to year end is March 31. This report therefore reflects centre activity over a period of
15 months. Every effort has been made to separate out figures so a 12 month figure is still maintained for comparative
purposes.
Membership.
Our membership at the end of March 2009 comprises of 177 members, 13 committee, 7 Community Service Card
members, 1 Honorary Member and 2 Life Members. This is down from the 2007 Annual Report which stood at 208.
However this has been measured at a different time and this year we have been more rigorous at archiving members who
have not paid. In the 2008 year (15 months) we had 31 renewals. We have no figures to compare this with so look
forward to tracking this on a quarterly basis in 2009.
Our newsletter has gone from strength to strength these past fifteen months, thanks to the efforts of Fiona Fraser (editor
until September 2008) and current editor, Alsa Kemys. The newsletter has undergone a major revamp with the
introduction of photos and a consistent style, further enhancing its readability and presentation. New regular features
including ‘Volunteer of the Month’, an Events Calendar and ‘Chefs Toolbox Recipe of the Month’ have been added, and a
number of outside contributors have asked to write for us. We have been fortunate to secure sponsorship from Arum Café
to encourage member participation in ‘Around the Coffee Cup’ and from Ebony Flowers for ‘Volunteer of the Month’.
Newsletter advertising revenue from January 2008 to March 2009 was $2,200 (not including income accrued). In
December 2008, we increased newsletter advertising rates (for the first time in at least eight years) to bring them in to line
with other Auckland Parents Centres and to more adequately cover increasing production and distribution costs.
Indications for the next financial year are that the number of paid advertising pages may increase by up to 50% compared
with levels in early 2008, and that increased advertising revenue will enable the newsletter to break-even.
2008 saw the introduction of the WAPC e-news. We were able to upload 3 years worth of members into our database.
This has meant that we can stay in touch with old members, gain new followers and keep current members up to date
with WAPC courses and news. To date we have over 300 members on our database and this grows every month. Our enews has helped us forge new community relationships, gain more committee members and strengthen ties with other
centres. WAPC has also successfully referred three other centres to Constant Contact thus reducing our subscription
costs through gaining referral rewards. The creation of the e-news has meant that we no longer have the need for a
Coffee Group Liaison by ensuring that the information gets to the coffee group members directly rather than relying on
contact people to pass the information on.
WAPC also sought to make an online presence for its members through creating a Facebook group. We will seek to
expand this in 2009 and hope to see more members taking advantage of this.
Over these past fifteen months we have inadvertently increased the number of retailer discounts available to our members
through capitalising on their paying for advertising in our newsletter. We no longer have a dedicated committee member
working on Retailer Discounts; rather we have combined it with our Products Co-Coordinator role and hope to be able to
offer both more discounts and quality products in 2009.
Childbirth Education
We ran 9 classes in 2008 and 3 in the first three months of 2009. 220 participants attended our 2008 classes and 64
people have attended the first three classes of 2009. Despite the fact that we ran only 9 classes as opposed to 11 in
2007, our class participant numbers are up by 5. Had we not been forced to cancel two classes we would have had a
significant rise in participant numbers over the previous year.
We had planned to run 11 classes, but due to an extreme shortage of CBEs in Auckland we had to cancel two classes in
late 2008. Shiree Richardson and Judi Geenti, West Auckland Parents Centre CBEs of many years experience, resigned
in 2008 leaving us without CBEs for the second half of the year. Both Judi and Shiree had put many years into West
Auckland Parents Centre CBE classes and we are very grateful for the dedication that both of them showed West
Auckland Parents Centre over the years. We are extremely grateful that CBEs from over Auckland helped us out as
much as they did with many of the classes; thanks go to Jennie Valgre, Charlie Saunders-Brown and Mel Benge.
2009 began with the supervised classes of our two new CBEs, Helen Ashford and Nicola Yelash. Both have had glowing
reviews from participants and have bought a fresh and dynamic perspective to our classes.
Late 2008 saw changes that meant CBEs taught Practical Parenting rather than members of the committee. Our thanks
go to Jacqui Simpson and Eileen Joy who facilitated the last of the parent led Practical Parenting sessions in early 2008.
At this point it is important to thank the many parents who brought themselves and their babies along to our Parenting
Panels and to our Practical Parenting evenings.
Thanks go to our Childbirth Education class hosts over the past fifteen months: Eileen Joy, Tamzyn MacDonnell, Pauline
Neilson, Nicola Yelash, Wendy Paltridge and Hassanah Rudd. Our thanks also go to Charlotte Whiter, Rebecca
Samways and Lesley Standeven-Kim for 2009 classes.
Special thanks also have to go to Angela Wilson for single handedly running all the hospital tours in 2008. Angela
provides an invaluable service to our members and one that we are very proud of offering.
We also changed a lot of the admin and processes surrounding Childbirth Education through 2008 – 2009. All initial
enquiries are now dealt with via email thus saving us money on postage and printing, approximately $100 per annum. We
also moved to a supper system where couples are now rostered to provide supper, we provide tea and coffee. This has
saved us over $400 per annum. 2009 has seen more changes with an online booking diary to which all WAPC committee
members have access thus making planning and information sharing that much easier. We have also secured bags from
The Baby Factory for all our Practical Parenting goodies, further reducing our costs by approximately $75 per annum.
There is still some work to do to fine tune the details and iron out inconsistencies, but overall childbirth education has had
a major overhaul this year.
We have had a dedicated team working behind the scenes on our Childbirth Education. Sonia Forrester, Eileen Joy and
Fiona Fraser did an amazing job of keeping on top of our enrolments at different times throughout 2008 and early 2009.
This role is challenging and it is vitally important as the Enrolments Coordinator is the first person from West Auckland
Parents Centre that an expectant couple interacts with. Rachel Danaher, Jo Copeland and Eileen Joy took on the role of
Antenatal Coordinator and managed exceptionally well with all of the changes we made to our administrative processes in
this area.
Finally the biggest change to classes saw our new fee structure implemented in March 2008. We moved from $195 for
CBE, membership, Baby & You and CPR & Choking, to three distinct packages: $195 for CBE and membership; $230 for
CBE, membership, Baby & You, CPR & Choking and Moving & Munching; $150 for membership, Baby & You and a
Practical Parenting evening. We have seen no reduction in membership and the split of packages is about 80/20 in
favour of the full package. So far we have seen no uptake of the $150 package, but we have not marketed this strongly.
Parent Education
Robin Gardner, Parent Education Convenor resigned mid 2008 and we were extremely fortunate that Rebecca Lamb
came onboard to manage Parent Education this year. Many volunteers have contributed to a full and successful
programme in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, with consistently high feedback from our members. It has been a priority
of the Parent Education team to provide high quality courses that meet the needs of our members. We are fortunate to
have a team of speakers who are able to share their expertise with our course participants.
We have also done similar cost analyses in Parent Education and have reduced the cost of classes by emailing
participants their handouts where possible. This not only reduces our costs but reduces our carbon footprint.
Baby & You
We ran eight Baby & You courses during the period covered by this report, with an average of 15 participants per course;
this is up from 7 courses in 2007. We have had some speaker changes for this course at the beginning of 2009. Susan
Goldstiver resigned her role as Life Changes speaker and has been replaced by Wendy Taylor of the Post Natal Distress
Support Network, who has received good participant feedback so far. Pauline Butt has changed to speaking at Moving
and Munching at our request, and for Child Development we have replaced her with a speaker provided by PAFT
(Parents as First Teachers, run in West Auckland by Waipareira Trust). Alys Higgs, who is our fantastic Baby Massage
speaker, asked to resign her position due to family commitments; however we managed to convince her to trial a
Saturday morning class instead. This seems to be popular with participants as it gives Dads a chance to learn this skill.
Louise Tanguay (The Sleep Store) has continued to be a popular & extremely helpful Sleeping and Settling speaker.
Julie Matthews did a fantastic job of co-ordinating and facilitating this course until her return to paid employment in June.
Andrea Hazeldine answered our desperate plea for a new facilitator and has subsequently done a wonderful job of
stepping into this role.
CPR & Choking
We ran 12 CPR & Choking courses, with over 270 participants (up from 240 in 2007). This course is our most popular
Parenting Education course, and usually runs at full capacity, sometimes with a waiting list. It continues to attract a high
number of non-members. Robin Gardner resigned from her position of coordinator and facilitator of this course halfway
through the year and was replaced by Rebecca Lamb.
Our speakers from Emergency Response Training Solutions (previously SPS Medics) have continued to provide high
quality training to our families with consistently good feedback.
Moving & Munching
We ran 5 Moving & Munching courses during the period covered by this report with an average of 18 participants per
course. This is up from 2 courses in 2007 with 30 participants combined.
Throughout the period covered by this report we have used Wendy Perera from Teeny Tiny as our Moving speaker, with
good feedback received, however we have replaced her with Pauline Butt from Sport Waitakere whose services are
provided free of charge. Munching was presented by Rowan Stenberg Calder from Watties in the first half of the year and
Dawn Rennell when she returned from maternity leave towards the end of 2008. Both speakers have received generally
positive feedback, with occasional concern from participants about the Watties themes.
We have had trouble finding a permanent facilitator for this course, and have been helped out by many committee
members to ensure that this course has been able to be delivered. We are very lucky to have found the extremely
competent Emma Collins to look after the facilitation of this class in 2009. With this course as part of the full package for
antenatal classes now, we expect to continue to see high participant numbers.
Parenting With Purpose & Magic Moments
Eileen Joy was trained as a PWP & MM facilitator in 2007 and WAPC has begun preliminary investigations into the costs
and our ability to offer these classes to our members.
Music & Movement and Antenatal Yoga
Preliminary work was done in late 2008, early 2009 to investigate the possibility of launching Antenatal Yoga and Music &
Movement classes for 0-2s. We will be offering Antenatal Yoga in 2009. Music & Movement is a larger project and we
are waiting for the right volunteer team to drive this forward.
Other Courses
We ran four Special Interest Seminars in Winter 2008. Wendy Perera of Teeny Tiny ran two excellent sessions on Early
Literacy and Numeracy, and Early Childhood Education Options in July and August, and in September we celebrated
Fathers’ Day with a seminar on Dads and Babies with Harald Breiding-Buss of the Father & Child Trust. In October the
Brainwave Trust spoke on the importance of the first three years. Although these seminars were not profitable in and of
themselves, they raised West Auckland Parents Centre’s profile in our community and attracted a number of nonmembers.
We ran one Tinies to Tots class in March 2008 with very low numbers, and had to cancel another two in July and October
due to low numbers. We also had to cancel a Terrific Toddlers course in November due to low numbers. We have
decided to focus on one Terrific Toddlers course per year, approximately 4 weeks after the Toddler Day Out in early
March, and have no plans to run any Tinies to Tots courses in 2009.
Marketing & Community
Once again we were able to help mothers celebrate Mothers Day by giving baskets to all the mothers in the Maternity
wing at Waitakere Hospital on Mother’s Day in 2008. Amanda Walles did an amazing job pulling together a truly amazing
array of donated items from local businesses.
For Parents Centre week, June 2008 we ensured that we had a display in every library of the Waitakere area. Special
thanks go to Robin Gardner for making this possible.
Over winter we were able to assist Parents Centre New Zealand by piloting a series of story times at a New Lynn library in
conjunction with Playhouse Disney New Zealand. These were extremely successful and ran for 6 weeks to an average of
20 parents and children at each session.
In August, in association with La Leche League, we hosted a breast feeding latch on at the Waitakere City Council as part
of the nationwide Big Latch On campaign. It was a successful turnout for this event and we are planning to participate in
this event in August 2009.
In October, West Auckland Parents Centre also participated in the annual Auckland Parent & Child Expo at the ASB
Showgrounds. We received over 140 expressions of interest specific to West Auckland and were able to email almost all
of them directly. We were thrilled that there were a significant number of enrolments for antenatal classes in late
2008/2009 that specifically cited the show as a referrer.
Late 2008 saw West Auckland Parents Centre have a marketing makeover. We rationalised all of our brochures and went
from having 4 different brochures to having one full colour glossy brochure. We have made every effort to ensure that this
has been sent out to every doctor, midwife, community centre and many community groups at least twice a year. We also
created West Auckland Parents Centre business cards so all committee members are able to use these as networking
tools, identification and to hand to people who might be interested in our courses. Our marketing kit now also comprises
of a branded banner and a set of t-shirts so that at public events we maintain a consistent look.
We were able to launch these looks at the Waitakere City Council’s annual march against family violence on White
Ribbon Day in November. Ten of our members and their children marched behind our banner through Henderson. In
December approximately twenty of our members and children joined together as a festive walking float (complete with
‘pregnant’ men) in the annual Henderson Santa Parade. All of these events contributed to raising our profile within the
West Auckland community.
Committee members have participated in Consumer Forums at Waitakere Maternity Hospital ensuring that our members’
voices and concerns are heard. Early 2009 has seen a rebuilding of community relationships and networks which will
only mean that we will grow stronger and have a higher profile in the community.
Committee
We now have a committee of 22 people, which is up from 15 the previous year.
A new Volunteer Information folder was developed this year as the previous one was out of date. The folder now includes
information on where to get help, a history of West Auckland Parents Centre, the new Parents Centre New Zealand Inc
Volunteer Booklet and a copy of our Annual Plan. Volunteers are also encouraged to update their own personal details
via a shared online document thus reducing the administrative workload.
We had our annual Christmas dinner at a local Indian restaurant and have initiated monthly committee coffee groups in
2009. This enables us to include people who might otherwise find it difficult to attend committee meetings due to other
commitments on our usual committee night. These are providing a fabulous opportunity to meet in a more relaxed setting
and meet other committee members’ children.
We held a big recruitment drive mid-2008 and this resulted in a sharp increase in the numbers on our committee. A mail
out targeting the last three years worth of members gained us approximately 8 new committee members.
In 2008 we welcomed many new committee members, Andrea Follington, Monica Silveira, Yvette Wilson, Ruth Murphy,
Alsa Kemys, Jo Copeland, Andrea Hazeldine, Rebecca Lamb, Emma Collins, Hannah Eyre, Lesley Standeven-Kim,
Amanda Perry, Gaylene Ward and Nikki Shepherd.
We farewelled Angela Everson, Arna Harris, Heather Martin, Nienke Slotbloom, Robin Gardner, Suzanne Irving, Wendy
Paltridge, Rachel Danaher, Jane Munro, Sarah Joyce, Matt Joyce, Sonia Forrester, Mel Buckley, Amanda Walles, Jules
Coup and Jo Copeland.
We bid a special farewell to Hassanah Rudd in October 2008 when she was successfully selected to be on the Parents
Centre New Zealand Inc Board. This in turn meant that Hassanah had to stand down from her committee roles.
We made a significant policy change in 2008 and decided that retiring committee members would no longer receive
vouchers for service after one year. Rather they receive a further one year membership to West Auckland Parents Centre
for the first year of their service and a $20 voucher for each year thereafter. This has meant we are able to keep retired
committee members informed of developments with the possibility of enticing them back.
A big thanks go to our continuing committee members, Eileen Joy, Charlotte Whiter, Fiona Fraser, Julie Matthews, Angela
Wilson, Rebecca Samways, Rebecca Lamb, Andrea Follington, Monica Silveira, Yvette Wilson, Ruth Murphy, Alsa
Kemys, Andrea Hazeldine, Emma Collins, Hannah Eyre, Lesley Standeven-Kim, Amanda Perry, Gaylene Ward and Nikki
Shepherd. We also welcome new members for 2009, Joanna Kebbell, Maryanne Lagaluga and Tania Wright.
Congratulations on the births to:


Rebecca and Andy Samways and Archie on the birth of Will
Charlotte and Mick Whiter and Peyton on the birth of Dominic
Also best wishes for impending births in 2009 go to: Yvette Wilson, Hassanah Rudd, Gaylene Ward and Maryanne
Lagaluga.
We were able to have five of our committee members attend the first Parents Centre New Zealand Inc, Volunteer
Symposium held in Auckland. Eileen Joy, Charlotte Whiter, Rebecca Lamb, Mel Buckley and Hassanah Rudd attended
various workshops, but most of all benefitted from the fantastic opportunity to network with other centres.
Volunteers are the life blood of West Auckland Parents Centre and one of our most important accomplishments this year
was securing sponsorship for our Volunteer of the Month from Ebony Flowers. This has meant that every volunteer of the
month is presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Fundraising & Donations
We had several fundraising opportunities over 2008/9. We raised $5561 in total. This comprised of selling Products,
Entertainment Books, Sausage Sizzle, Jaffa Run Tickets, as well as having a stand at the Waitakere City Council’s annual
Toddler Day Out in March 2008 and March 2009. We also gained commission on Stuck on You children’s clothing labels
and Positive Negatives photos which we extended to two days rather than the usual one.
We were extremely fortunate and thankful in 2008 to receive two significant donations of items. We received a laptop
from the Westcott-Joneses and a DVD player from the Booth family.
2008 saw the introduction of a Birthday Party Hire kit comprising of a bubble machine, small trestle table and eight small
chairs appropriate for toddlers. We have marketed this to our members for them to take advantage of and hope to raise
some funds through this in 2009. We will also seek to add things like cake tins to broaden its appeal. Having it available
at events has added to our profile and the bubble machine was extremely popular with littlies at the 2009 Toddler Day
Out.
Financials
Parents Centre New Zealand Inc has moved their Financial Year to commence on April 1st, instead of January 1st. Thus,
the financial year for 2008 was a 15 month period, starting from January 01 2008 through to March 31 2009. Therefore
the Income and Expenses for this period include the first three months of 2009.
During this time, West Auckland Parents Centre had an income of $58,590 (including $2,048 from Newsletter advertising,
$17,513 from Grants and $5,561 from Fundraising) and an expenditure of $63,737. The first three months of the year
have historically had a low income (January / February have lower enrolments for courses as they are not run, Grant
payments are not completed until after the holidays etc) compared to the rest of the year, and the financial period ended
making a net loss of $5,147. Having made a loss in the period, we still have a healthy bank balance, and are confident
that the remainder of 2009 will result in a profit, particularly due to the increased efforts in marketing that we have made.
Special thanks go to The Trusts Waitakere and the Portage Licensing Trusts for their generous support of our activities
through grants. Thanks also go to COGs, the Lotteries Commission and ACE funding without whose support we simply
could not offer the services we do.
For more detailed information about our financial position, please see the Audited Financial Report for 2008.
2008 saw the long awaited introduction of internet banking, further reducing our costs and improving our service to not
only our members but our debtors as well. Special thanks go to Arna Harris for organising this for us. Arna was also
instrumental in developing new financial procedures, tightening controls and ensuring that we have a system of preferred
suppliers thereby providing clarity for committee members.
In December 2008, our Treasurer, Arna Harris, who has devoted many hours to improving our accounting systems and
chasing numbers to ensure the accounts reconcile, needed to devote more of her time to her family, and, in a very smooth
transition, handed the reins over to Ruth Murphy and Andrea Follington. The obvious fact that the Treasurer role is now
shared indicates the mammoth task that Arna undertook, and we would like to thank her for the clear and concise
operating procedures she has developed.
Andrea Follington and Ruth Murphy share both the Treasurer Role and the Secretary role. Andrea is responsible for day
to day operations, such as making deposits, completing payments, tracking grants invoices, collecting / logging the mail
and sending out invoices. Ruth is responsible for entering data in to the accounting software program, running financial
reports, raising invoices, reconciling the accounts and recording the Committee Meeting Minutes.
Halfway through the year we rationalised many of our assets and sold things that we no longer of use to us as a centre or
out of date. We sold off the toys from the toy library as we realised that this was a service no longer used by our
members and sold many of our old books to members, through Trade Me and at Toddler Day Out 2009. 2009 will see a
renewal of assets and a program developed to ensure that our teaching resources are always up to date.
In Conclusion:
West Auckland Parents Centre has experienced a year of consolidation in 2008. We have taken stock, improved our
systems, expenses, look and community networking. We have continued to provide top quality classes and have two new
dynamic Childbirth Educators who are reinvigorating our Childbirth Education program. We have a strong, dedicated
committee and a team that takes notice of individual strengths by tailoring roles to suit changing life circumstances. It is
important that we acknowledge the time, commitment and expertise that each volunteer brings to West Auckland Parents
Centre without which we would truly be lost. It is equally important to take the opportunity to thank our volunteer’s
partners and families who give up their time with their loved ones to ensure that West Auckland Parents Centre continues
to be successful.
It is our pleasure to bring such a diverse group of strong people together to lead West Auckland Parents Centre into 2009.
We look forward to a year where we will face unique challenges to our very existence through funding shortages and the
complete reformation of local councils into one super Auckland council. We have no doubt that 2008 has laid the
foundations for WAPC to move forward into 2009, our 28th year, stronger than ever before. We will rise to the challenge
that this presents and further hope to rise to the self driven challenge to obtain our own permanent premises to operate
out of.
Eileen Joy & Charlotte Whiter
Co-Presidents West Auckland Parents Centre
Appendices 2 – Audited Financial Report 31 March 2009