Cholmondeley Children’s Centre farewells valued Board Member

After five years of serving on Cholmondeley Children’s Centre’s Board as a Member, Darel Hall has stepped down to look for new opportunities to contribute to the community.

Following his own stay at Cholmondeley as a child in the 1970s, Darel joined the Board to give back to the place that gave him so many choices.

“It was to make my contribution to seeing that kids that are in the same situation I was, get the benefits I got, so they could make the choices I got to make,” said Darel.

During his tenure Darel noted one of the most significant changes at Cholmondeley was a shift towards embracing a more bicultural practice.

“The importance of thinking about mana whenua, mana whenua’s place in our organisation, the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and what it means for a lot of the children that come to Cholmondeley,” he said.

Although he believed there was still more work to be done in this space, “It’s started but hasn’t reached an endpoint,” Darel said.

Looking back on his time at Cholmondeley he said it was only a positive experience, “it [Cholmondeley] expands the realms of possibility for every child that goes there – certainly that was true for me.”

He wanted tamariki to see becoming a Board Member as an attainable achievement. Both Darel and Nuk Korako, Cholmondeley’s current Patron and former Board Member, attended Cholmondeley as tamariki and went on to serve the Centre.

“Why shouldn’t that be something that the children see as a normal thing they might think about,” said Darel.

He also invited caregivers of tamariki who stay at Cholmondeley to step up if they felt they had something to offer.

 “Whatever your circumstances, whatever your background, you can see that you can make some choices, which can include serving on the board of an organisation like Cholmondeley,” he said.