Woodford House alumna Libby Robins received the Tempus Award for her contribution to New Zealand families. Photo / Ian Cooper
Woodford House alumna Libby Robins received the Tempus Award for her contribution to New Zealand families. Photo / Ian Cooper
Libby Robins had a dame for a teacher, and now she can say she's up there with her.
Robins, a Woodford House old girl, already boasts a 2011 Winston Churchill Fellowship and a 2017 Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work tackling child abuse in NZ.
She's now been awarded the school's Tempus Award for outstanding achievement outside of school, and her name has been placed on the honours board with the likes of Dame Kate Harcourt, Miranda Smith, and Poppy Renton.
Robins, who boarded at Woodford House from 1957 to 1961, returned to the school grounds in Havelock North on Saturday to receive the award.
"It's terrific to have my name on a plaque that traces the school's achievers all the way back to the original recipient. It definitely has some wow factor to it," Robins said.
"Dame Kate is one of the teachers that I remember fondly from my time at Woodford; to be listed with her is incredible," she said.
Robins' most outstanding achievement has involved her founding of a non-governmental organisation that tackles intergenerational parental abuse and dysfunction.
Since the establishment of The Family Help Trust in Christchurch in 1990, the organisation has worked with about 40 to 50 families in the region each year.
Robins said she was motivated to begin the trust after working in residential care and observing how the "nonsensical tragedy" of kids moving from one damaging system to the next.
"Watching kids bounce from the residential care system to the prison system really sparked a passion in me. I knew I needed to try and prevent this intergenerational issue from occurring and help protect children from maltreatment," she said.
The Family Health Trust works with high-risk clients who come from backgrounds of alcohol and substance abuse and family violence.
Libby Robins joins Dame Kate Harcourt, Miranda Smith, and Poppy Renton as a recipient of Woodford House's Tempus Award. Photo / Ian Cooper
Robins said the organisation operates with children's safety at its core and aims to highlight the importance of infant brain development.
"There is a huge amount of research that has gone into child brain development, showing how vital the bond between parent and child is in those early years, and the critical role parents play in their child's ability to thrive.
"Our target is the child, to wrap around the infant and provide long-term service," she said.
Woodford House principal Julie Peterson said Robins is a role model for the school's students due to her commitment to her ideals, which marry with the school's values.
"Libby exemplifies many of the values and strengths we represent at Woodford House: courage, resilience, confidence, and perseverance," Peterson said.
After 30 years working as the director of the trust, Robins retired earlier this year, and is now trust patron.
She contracts herself to other agencies to share Family Help Trust tools and spends her spare time pressing olive and hazelnut oil on her Hororata farm.
