This year she celebrates her 25th year at the same centre, saying from the first day she put her foot through the door there was a welcoming atmosphere.

"It felt like being home,' she said.

Mrs Keen said despite the endless number of fond memories she never could have predicted that she would still be working at Rainbow Cottage 25 years down the line, let alone as the manager.

"It feels like it was just yesterday that I had my first day, although I have seen a lot of changes," she said.

"I started out as an assistant out on the floor, now I'm in the manager's role.

"My first day, within the first 10 minutes of being here I smashed my key in the door," she laughed.

Mrs Keen said although childcare had never been on her radar before she started working at Rainbow Cottage, she had always had a love for children.

"It's rewarding [working with children], it's challenging but so rewarding, I love it," she said.

"I was pregnant with my second child and I didn't really want to go back to work, but someone had mentioned childcare so I inquired about it.

"After studying I applied for the position here and I was really lucky. They were hiring two people at the time and there were 168 applicants."

Mrs Keen said no matter what role she was in, working at the cottage has always been rewarding.

ow Cottage is owned by Dubbo Regional Council, and the council has always put family first," she said.

"They've been flexible with staff if they've had sick children or something like that, they never question you being sick and they've always been very supportive and encouraged us to do better in terms of training and things like that."

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