New chapter opens for departing matron | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

When Marion Judge went for her interview as the matron at Cholmondeley Children's Home she was asked if she planned to stay for long ? and stay she did.

Judge has recently retired from her position at Cholmondeley after 14 years at the Christchurch centre.

"I always thought I might stay for a while, I'm not the type of person who shifts around a lot," she said.

After 14 busy years at Cholmondeley and many more before working in social work, Judge plans to do some of the things she never had time for.

"I am a readaholic, I used to read books from front to cover."

She said she also plans to spend more time in the garden and looking after her birds, which live in an aviary behind her house, as well as some travelling.

"I want to potter around New Zealand," she said.

Judge, of the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton, began her career in health as a Karitane nurse before moving to Kingslea where she did a lot of her training through Child Youth and Family.

She then joined the board at Cholmondeley and during that time the matron's job came up.

"So I offered my services," she said. I was really interested in bringing a modern and responsive service."

At her time at Cholmondeley, Judge saw many changes, one being the move to have staff live off site. This was something Judge worked closely at.

"At the time many staff still lived on site, I made it part of my contract that I wouldn't live in.

"I always thought that it is one of the factors that separates institutions from the public," she said.

Another change was the move towards more accountability and awareness of the safety of children, Judge said.

"At first there was little monitoring, now there is more accountability," she said.

Judge always cherished the time she got to spend with parents and fitted in a parents support group in the little time she had.

She said she always thought providing support for parents was important.

Judge also has a lot of praise for the Canterbury community and their efforts to get behind Cholmondeley Children's Home.

She said she was always surprised by the generosity of the Canterbury public who would donate their old toys to the home.

"There weren't many resources to start, only a couple of small cupboards,'' she said.

"People would bring toys in and now we have a much bigger collection just from donation," Judge said.

However, Judge is not letting the home go just yet. She is still sitting on Cholmondeley's board and said she would like to be available as a resource worker or supervisor occasionally.

Cholmondeley community relations officer Irene Gray said Judge was tremendously respected in the community and had been instrumental in changing the direction and focus of Cholmondeley.

"She has contributed so much," she said.