Porridge Bikers visit Albany Community Kindergarten for a busy bee to improve facilities before school year

A group of retired and current law enforcers chipped in to help renovate and assist with major outdoor maintenance at one of Albany’s oldest kindergartens last month.

Albany Community Kindergarten held a busy bee partnered with Porridge Bikers on January 24 to deliver improvements to the kindergarten ahead of the 2026 school year.

The Porridge Bikers, who are a local charity group made up of current and retired police and prison officers, helped conduct major outdoor maintenance along with a number of internal tasks as part of the kindy’s ongoing facility maintenance program.

President of the Albany Community Kindergarten Chantelle Jones said the collaboration with Porridge Bikers delivered exceptional results.

“The Porridge Bikers worked alongside us to tackle a long list of priority jobs and the amount of work completed in one day was remarkable,” she said.

“We are incredibly grateful for their skills, their time and their willingness to support our kindy in such a practical way.”

The Albany Community Kindergarten has been part of Albany since 1955 and is the only community kindy in WA that owns its own building.

The busy bee comes after the kindy issued a public plea in November, asking for help implementing and funding renovations to ensure its heritage building remained compliant.

Ms Jones said the busy bee forms part of a broader, planned approach to maintaining the kindergarten and that partnerships such as that with the Porridge Bikers show the strength of the relationships that continue to support its future.

“As a community-led organisation, we carefully plan and prioritise maintenance works,” she said.

“This partnership has made a significant difference, and we also have a number of individuals who offered their skills and time over the coming weeks to continue this work and help us care for our building.”

Albany MLA Scott Leary dropped by during the busy bee to help and spend time with both the committee members and the Porridge Bikers in order to better understand the kindergarten and its role in the community.

Ms Jones said Mr Leary expressed a strong interest in continuing discussions with Albany Community Kindergarten, which she was keen to progress.