A MUM-OF-FOUR loves singing with the kids and interacting with parents at the playgroup she volunteers at and has been involved in the community for almost a decade.

Tahire Zeneli won the Outstanding Contribution to Earliest Years of Life Award (sponsored by Betterstart Bradford) at the Community Stars Awards last Wednesday.

There were 1,310 votes made in the category in total, with Mrs Zeneli receiving 451 of those.

The other finalists were, Raymond Field and Maryiam Ahmed, and Sam Thirkill.

Mrs Zeneli said on receiving her award: “I’m really excited and really happy.”

Her story dates back to almost a decade ago and has taken her across a variety of sectors while volunteering for BD4 Family - a community trust that helps families come together to learn, share and grow and offers them support when needed.

Mrs Zeneli said: “Well I’ve been involved with BD4 communities for nearly 10 years now.

“I’ve done loads of different work, loads of different training, I’ve met so many amazing people.

“I feel like I’ve done so much, obviously now I do playgroups.

“I do singing time with kids, I talk to the parents, I enjoy just doing work in there.

“I’ve done so much different stuff, it’s hard to remember what I’ve done so far, because it’s so many years I’ve been there for.”

One of the sessions Mrs Zeneli set-up and leads is called "Culture Comforts".

This aims to break down cultural barriers within East Bowling and beyond.

The roles Mrs Zeneli takes up are those which you might expect somebody to be paid for.

But she explains volunteering allows her to maintain a healthy balance of helping others, while also spending quality time with her own children.

Mrs Zeneli said: “Well I’ve got four kids of my own, I’ve took my kids to playgroup as well myself.

“I enjoy spending the time with my kids as well as doing the voluntary work, it just makes life much easier for me.

“And I love doing it voluntary because at the moment, obviously I know there’s no restrictions to me to be there, when I need some time to go with my kids and I can go - maybe that wouldn’t be the same if I was working.

“But at the moment, I’ve still got six-year-old, I like to spend time with my daughter, so working as a volunteer just makes life easier for me.”

As the 10 year mark approaches, Mrs Zeneli is beginning to contemplate a time when she will no longer be volunteering as intensely as she does now.

But, she admits she will always be involved with her local community in some way or form.

She said: “This is the thing that I always think about all the time and I think, what am I going to be like when I’m not going to be doing this voluntary work.

“I am hoping when I do want to go to work, I’ll be part of the BD4 community trust, that’s all I know I think, so be part of the community, so I’ll probably be doing the same kind of work.”