Ashly Main
I have been a volunteer at TAT for almost 2 years. I heard about TAT via a friend and was so touched by her enthusiasm that I contacted Jo and joined the next volunteer training day. This was still at the old premises in Oak Street. I loved the training, the TAT staff and most of all the littlies and couldn’t wait to become more involved. I worked in HR for many years so, although I was involved in many CSI projects, it was more in a business and overview role and I yearned for a more hands on roles once I stopped working fulltime. Not long after I started volunteering, Charms asked me whether I would be interested in kangarooing baby M so that he could bond and become emotionally stronger and happier. I came in for a few hours most days to kangaroo, bath and feed him and, by being in the home so often, I not only fell head over heels in love with Baby M, but also with the other babies and the carer Mammas. I have since kangaroo’d a number of babies – and have just said farewell to darling Baby S who I had the privilege to love for just over a year until he went to his forever family. I love all the little people in our care, but by the nature of kangarooing, I think those babies and I share a closer bond and, although it is hard to say farewell, it is the best thing in the world knowing that I have had the opportunity to make a difference in each little ones life, enabling them to feel secure, loved and able to trust. Although I love helping with the tiny babies, it is also so much fun spending time with the toddlers – they make me laugh at their antics and endless energy and mischief. It is so exciting to see all the little ones overcome obstacles, achieve their milestones and most of all to pass them over to their families, whether these are natural or adoptive. I believe that our babies learn many life lessons at TAT – they learn to share, to love and be loved, to be patient, to respect and care for others. A ‘regular’ day as a volunteer is seldom regular – each shift depends on what is required on the day! It is so heart-warming to enter the home and see how happy the children are to see me – smiles, arms up in the air to be picked up and sometimes a squeal of excitement and a rush to beat the others to say hello. My job consists of simply holding the little ones, playing, filling up their love tanks, feeding, changing nappies, bathing, taking them to doctor’s appointments, on outings and helping them develop so that they can tackle the world with confidence. Apart from the children, I have made wonderful relationships with the management, the other volunteers and most of all the Mamma’s who care for our babies. It is a privilege to be a part of their lives and hear the stories of their families and their trials and tribulations. We have become a close knit and supportive group. My daughters are also volunteers and our experiences have changed our family in many ways – all for the better!
