Chairs Get Children's Feet Back on the Ground

Sylvia James had a pleasant surprise the first time she used Waste Exchange – not only did she find the ideal resources for her puna group, but they were located literally just down the road. 

Sylvia is the Family Programmes Co-ordinator for the Buller Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP), which runs activities for local pre-schoolers. She had found out about Waste Exchange only recently, when Co-ordinator Jim Forsman visited the centre to promote the service on the Coast. Since then, whenever Jim had anything of interest, he included the REAP in his email distribution lists.  

The item that caught Sylvia’s eye was a listing for children’s chairs. Previously, the children had been making do with adult sized chairs, but their height meant the children’s legs were left dangling unless they put their feet on the low table they used for activities. 

“We’re always getting emails from Jim and I’m amazed at what’s available” says Sylvia. “When I saw the chairs I knew they were just what we needed, even though I thought I would have to go to Christchurch to get them. The real buzz for me was when I saw that they were in my area; actually, they were at the school just down the road. The school had lost a teacher and had an excess of classroom equipment – the chairs were just taking up space in the sports shed. I wouldn’t have known that they wanted to get rid of them otherwise. It was absolutely fabulous.”