Then Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who supported and praised Angel and her husband Caleb for their initiative, helped them cut through the red tape to get the venture under way.
‘‘However, our small digger was unexpectedly classified under 1978 regulations for rides like Ferris wheels, requiring a council permit for every single booking. This nearly ended the business before it truly began.’’
But rather than giving up, Angel and her husband Caleb contacted the minister, who is also deputy leader of the ACT Party, seeking her support for the initiative.
Ms van Velden responded with a personal visit to Angel and Caleb's Rangiora home where she tried out the mini digger and later sent the couple a letter saying she admired their initiative.
‘‘You are very inspiring. Keep up the amazing work,’’ she said.
The minister also was able to help solve the permit issue.
‘‘There was variance amongst them in cost and documentation. Brooke helped us get to the right people with WorkSafe to get a determination as to whether we did or did not fall within the definitions of an amusement device,’’ Angel said.
The WorkSafe response was their little digger did not fall into that amusement device category so permits are no longer required.
Angel said the minister’s visit had inspired them to get ‘‘back on track’’ with their business of being a children’s mini digger hire company to create hands-on-play learning opportunities for children, and provide free visits to pre-schools and childcare centres with their mini digger and a mobile sandpit.
They are now also accepting bookings for their free preschool and Kohanga Reo visit programme to ‘‘take the little digger directly to Canterbury's tamariki’’.
The free pre-school visits are funded by the private bookings the little digger generates for the business.
Angel and Caleb are hoping the initiative will encourage the next generation of builders to grow confidence and also ensure purposeful play is accessible to all.
‘‘I am someone who didn't have a lot (growing up) as I was the youngest child to a single mother of six who was on the benefit,’’ Angel said.
‘‘I feel incredibly lucky I do not have the same struggles that I did as a child, so I hope that children in similar situations can dream big after a visit from our digger.’’
Angel said the idea for the business came from their two toddler sons, who are digger ‘‘obsessed’’, and from Caleb, a diesel mechanic who has had a lot of experience with real diggers.
‘‘We created Little Rides to take the stress out of celebrations while sparking something special in every child.
‘‘Our diggers aren't just toys, they are tiny confidence builders, imaginationigniters, and maybe even the first step toward a future passion,’’ Angel said.
The mini digger is a Vekain model, designed especially for children to use.
‘‘Caleb has also modified it by making the movements slower to elevate the safety, put stoppers in so that it will only reach the confines of the sandpit and limited the jolting motions,’’ Angel said. To find out more about booking the little digger for a private function or a free pre-school/playcentre visit,contact Angel at littlerides.co.nz.
