WARM, passionate and dedicated to child protection, Jenny Watts has been giving back to the community her entire life.
Her journey began in the tiny town of North Star in northwest NSW, a place she made “wonderful memories”.
“I’m still great friends with some of my peers from that time,” she said.
By the age of 12, Jenny was already volunteering with the Junior Medical Research Foundation.
“From there, any opportunity to be on a committee or involved in a project, I took it,” she told NOTA.
“I just loved the feeling of helping people.”
Since then Jenny has been involved in playgroups, school reading, sewing, organising excursions, and running school bands.
She even started a band for adult beginners when her son hit high school.
“I took my son’s trombone and became the treasurer and event organiser,” she laughed.
“I held those positions for 19 years.”
After moving to Port Macquarie at the end of 2015, Jenny joined the Mid North Coast branch of Bravehearts in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.
Bravehearts is a charity that provides counselling, education, training and advocacy for survivors and communities affected by child sexual abuse.
She took on the Chairperson role in 2018 and is deeply passionate about the organisation’s mission to educate local kids about bodily safety and how to say “no”.
“I knew about child sexual assault,” she said, “but I really had no idea how common it was.
“The Mid North Coast is not a safe area for kids, and our mission is to fully fund child protection education in our local primary schools.”
Since the local Bravehearts committee started in 2013, around 16,000 kids have received this education, with more than 2,000 local students taking part each year in the past three years.
Jenny’s not stopping there however, hoping to expand into early learning centres by 2026.
To help grow the program, she recently increased the committee from four to nine people.
“We’ve got people from all different backgrounds and age groups now,” she said.
“I’m confident they’ll bring a lot to the table.”
Jenny’s passionate about educating adults too.
“The stories I hear from survivors and their families are heartbreaking,” she said.
“Education is our only defence. That’s why our fundraising events are so important.
“They raise money, yes, but they also raise awareness in the community.
“If we can save just one child from being sexually assaulted, then all the hard work is worth it.”
By Chan ANSELL
