Belinda Bowen’s love of childcare has earned her Colac Otway Workforce’s Employee of the Month award for January.
Mrs Bowen said she started her career in childcare at the Colac Early Learning Centre after she was looking after a friend’s children.
“I was working on the farm and taking care of a girlfriend’s kids when my daughter Stacey started working at the centre,” Mrs Bowen said.
“I came on board coming up to four years ago and I’ve loved it ever since,” she said.
Stacey Bowen said she understood why a family at the centre had nominated her mother for the award
“All of her hard work and commitment really shows, she is always willing to give anything a go,” Miss Bowen said.
“She is kind-hearted and you can see how much she loves working with the kids,” she said.
Mrs Bowen says she still helps her husband Ray on the farm in the mornings before work, and in the afternoons when she gets home.
“I come in from 9 in the morning and I work in the toddler room with up to 15 kids,” Mrs Bowen said.
“When I come into the room the kids call out ‘Binda’ and run over, I just love working with them,” she said.
Mrs Bowen said that the centre deserved credit for her nomination for being such a wonderful work environment.
“The girls here are great, it’s such a beautiful atmosphere at the centre,” Mrs Bowen said.
“I always like to make the families welcome and I think that’s the object of making a child care centre work,” she said.
Mrs Bowen is in the running for an employee of the year award, presented at the Powercor Colac Otway Shire Business Awards on October 25.
“I have never won anything like this before so I consider it a big honour,” Mrs Bowen said.