A Tauranga woman who has spent most of her life making childrens' lives brighter has been given a rare award.

Suzy Brown has been awarded a Bay of Plenty District Commander's certificate of appreciation for her Tedz for the Kidz initiative.

Suzy Brown was presented with a Bay of Plenty Police District Commander's certificate of appreciation. Photos: Letitia Atkinson.

Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton, Child Youth and Family acting Bay of Plenty operations manager Klaus Herrmann, Suzy Brown, Detective Sergeant Pete Blackwell, and Bay of Plenty Police district commander Superintendent Glenn Dunbier.

The aim of the initiative is to provide toys for children who come under the radar of police and Child Youth and Family.

Suzy was given the award by Bay of Plenty Police district commander Glenn Dunbier, who presented the award on behalf of police, Child Youth and Family and supporting organisations, at an informal gathering at the Child Youth and Family office in Tauranga.

During his presentation Glenn says the numbers of crimes involving children stacks up.

'The Bay of Plenty District is one of the busiest places in the country. This is not good.”

Glenn says he is proud of the staff who deal with crimes involving children.

As well as sourcing toys for children, Suzy is a foster parent and also arranges for packages for children who are uplifted from their homes and are brought into care with only the clothes on their backs.

Glenn says the District Commander's certificate of appreciation is not handed out lightly and recipients are chosen by a number of people who review what the nominee has done and if they are deserving or not.

'This award is rarely given to civilians. The work you do brings a lot of joy to a lot of people and children.”

For more about the initiative and the work Suzy does visit http://www.4thekidz.org.nz/

A child protection team is based at the Tauranga Child Youth and Family office in Tauranga and is made up of five detectives and Detective Sergeant Pete Blackwell heads the group.

They work alongside social workers to provide an action plan for protecting children.