A screenshot of the CASPA homepage. Photo: RNZ / Dan Satherley
A childcare worker who was hired by the MASH after-school programme one month before it abruptly shut down had to bring in her own toys and never received any wages.
Cecilia Miras was hired as a childcare worker in February and said she had been relying on food banks, despite parents paying for the programme in advance.
"When I saw the parents crying [on Friday morning] they said that they had paid two weeks in advance... and I felt oh my God, they paid money and here I am - I've not been paid.
"I don't know why they still hired me. At the end of the day, they are having some trouble - maybe I'm just like a Band-Aid for them?"
On Thursday, staff at Christchurch-based after-school care programmes MASH and CASPA were told that the programmes would close.
Brenton Hunt from Insolvency Matters confirmed that MASH International and CASPA New Zealand had gone into liquidation and the centres were permanently closed.
Parents arrived at one school Friday morning to find no one to look after their children. The closure forced parents to scramble for another childcare provider or change their work hours or studies.
Owner Craig Fortune had emailed staff on Thursday, telling them the company had major cashflow problems.
He promised them he would do everything he could to ensure that their wages would be paid in full.
Miras said she had kept working because she didn't want to let down the children or worry their parents.
She could always fight for the money, but she was devastated to be separated from the children so abruptly.
"We had a lot of fun, and the parents were so happy that they could see the children doing something nice.
"For the last month, I tried to make everything nice and fun. I brought my own toys for the kids because they didn't have much toys there."
Miras said she had been forced to rely on food parcels to feed her family during the month she was not paid.