Mr Debreceny is the current director of Gubi Gabun - a government-funded mobile playgroup which has operated across the New England area for 40 years.

"One of the reasons I got into early childhood education was to address the disparity in the representation for men versus women in the industry," Mr Debreceny said.

"I don't think it is an accurate representation of the real world for children to be provided in the early years and I feel there is a real place for men to come and do valuable work with children.

"For too long this sort of work has been seen as 'women's work', and I think that is not a very good perspective to have. Young children need both men and women around them to help them understand how we interact with each other, and I'm just trying to do my bit where I can."

While he has now been working in the industry for a decade, Mr Debreceny hasn't always been so bold and says while he always wanted to work with children, it wasn't his first career when he finished school.

"Because of the stigma surrounding men working in the early childhood industry I put it off for quite some time," he said.

"I was almost thirty when after many years of working in mid-level retail management, I decided I was no longer going to let that nonsensical stigma stop me from what I believe is meaningful work."

Formally from Armidale, Mr Debreceny previously worked for the highly respected Gamumbi Early Childhood Centre in Toormina but decided to move back to his hometown to take the Gubi Gabun job.

"Coming back to work with children for a service that's doing meaningful things was a big part of why I moved back to Armidale," Mr Debreceny said.

"That and to be closer to my brother's children because I realised they were growing up without me and I'm a doting uncle."

Every week Mr Debreceny is on the road facilitating playgroups alongside his three educators, and he has made some big changes in his first year.

The service provider's branding has had an overhaul, and a new website is under construction; the time of each location's playgroup has been changed from a confusing week of the month system to simple fortnightly sessions during the school term, and the play programs and toys have changed.

Now the children have a direct impact on what toys and games they are offered.

"Children now have more of a say as to what experiences are provided for them," Mr Debreceny said.

"Effectively we consult with them, observe their play and listen to what they are telling us then use that information for our next cycle of programming and planning."

Plastic and prescriptive toys have also been gradually replaced with more wooden and abstract elements.

"We need durable things, and I've taken steps to move us towards a natural resource model," said Mr Debreceny.

"I want to provide resources children can play with in their own way so they can imprint their own experiences. A couple of blocks of wood can be a mobile phone or a couple of sausages in a frypan. But you will rarely see a child use a plastic sausage as a mobile phone.

"In my career, I've seen services that do provide lots of plastic prescribed experiences for children, and I've worked in facilities that have gone the other way and provided lots of natural resources and lots of loose parts.

"The difference in play that you see is quite pronounced. Letting children have ownership of their play is something I've certainly seen to be very important over the last decade or so."

Another significant change Mr Debreceny has made is to cut attendance fees, and the service is now free apart from a small contribution towards venue hire in some locations.

In total Gubi Gabun serves about 320 children from more than 180 families and operates in 15 locations across the region including Armidale, Bald Blair, Bendemeer, Guyra (including Goorialla service for Aboriginal families), Hernani, Ebor, Kentucky, Niangala, Tingha, Uralla, Walcha, Wollomombi, Wongwibinda and Woolbrook.

It also partners with Pathfinders in the delivery of the Aboriginal Transition to School Program in Woolbrook, and the Gubi Gaban Goorialla service in Guyra is in partnership with Armajun Aboriginal Health Service.

"We look forward to continuing these partnerships for years to come," Mr Debreceny said.