Almost five years ago, Fair Go host Pippa Wetzell was in her kitchen, taking time out from her busy schedule as mother to two young daughters and a three-month-old son, to help out another little family in need.
Her sister-in-law had recently given birth and Pippa knew just what she needed – a home-cooked meal to pop in the freezer so the new mum would have one less thing
to worry about.
“I was actually in the middle of making that meal when an email came through from Jacqui Ritchie – the founder of Bellyful – asking me if I could come on board with her charity,” recalls Pippa. “It was really meant to be!”
Founded six years ago, Bellyful is a charity organisation that mobilises volunteers to deliver meals to families with newborn babies or ill children, or those lacking a good support network, and the idea behind it struck a chord with Pippa. The charity’s celebrity ambassador and mother to Brodie (8), Cameron (6) and Taj (4), Pippa says she remembers those first few months with a newborn, particularly her first.
“You can feel quite overwhelmed at times,” she recalls. “When I explain Bellyful, some people – particularly men, actually – say, ‘Oh, so it’s just a meal?’ But it’s so much more than that. It’s a reminder that there are people who will look after you.”
While Pippa says she and her lawyer husband Torrin Crowther are definitely “done” when it comes to babies, her cluckiness emerged as she found herself surrounded by newborns – and one very special guest – at an event last week.
Pippa was invited to meet with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who had afternoon tea with the Bellyful team during her New Zealand royal tour with husband Prince Charles. Along with several dozen volunteers, meal recipients and many of their young babies, Pippa waited in the Auckland Town Hall’s Supper Room to meet the duchess. “When she arrived, the room went completely silent,” recalls Pippa.
“There must have been a couple of dozen babies there – really tiny ones too – and none of them made a single noise. It was amazing!”
Pippa then joined a short queue of guests to greet the duchess – “She put out her hand immediately and I think I did a little dip!”
Camilla was invited into a makeshift kitchen, where she saw how volunteers prepare and package the meals during their regular “cook-a-thons”. When handed an apron, the duchess quipped, “You’re not going to get me cooking, are you?”, and when one volunteer remarked that she looked quite used to tying up her own apron, Camilla chortled, “Goodness no!”
The concept of Bellyful appealed to the duchess, who encouraged the mothers to bring their little ones along.
In the excitement of watching her in the kitchen, Pippa says one tiny mix-up happened. “She sat in my seat, with my half finished cup of tea!” she laughs. “She didn’t mind, though. She was busy clucking at all the adorable babies.”
So many, that Pippa suddenly found herself feeling quite broody. “I haven’t felt that way in a long time,” she confesses.
After their succesful afternoon tea, Pippa said the duchess was “very engaging and good at leading the conversation”.
But despite that fleeting moment, Pippa says she’s sure she’s done at three. And with her youngest child off to school next year, there are plenty of changes on the horizon. “I’m going to be an absolute mess,” Pippa confides. “The kindergarten teachers have to warn me that a talk about his move to school is coming, just so I can prepare myself! There are going to be tears.”
Camilla clearly has a knack with children and doted over the adorable tots.
But before then, she says, she’s certainly got a lot to look forward to – including a summer spent teaching the kids to surf, before she heads back to Fair Go in the New Year. And, of course, she’ll be reminiscing about her brush with royalty. “It’s not something that happens every day, so it’s an experience I’ll always remember.”
