Summer 2018 Newsletter

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Taruna Newsletter - Summer 2018

Dear Readers,

Firstly I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year (somewhat belated) and I trust that you have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy this beautiful warm weather that most of us seem to be having, along with the climate unpredictability of living on a relatively small island such as New Zealand.

It feels like some time ago that our last newsletter was sent out to our friends and subscribers just prior to us closing the doors at Taruna for a Christmas/New Year break, however we arrived back early January to quite a different picture than what was experienced in our previous January at Taruna.

Two adult students had been working throughout the summer in the gardens clearing away significant debris from long ago, weeds and climbers were removed with the result being that we can actually see some of the trees and shrubs that were hiding underneath. The homestead garden was replanted to what we hope will be easier care and some irrigation was installed so that we now have much more choice as to what we can plant into the future.

Some of you will recall your time at the hostel with fond memories of your experience staying there, it had loads of 'character' and was homely. For me, when I arrived at Taruna, I have to say that my first thoughts about the hostel were that the ceiling was falling down and I wondered how many old couches and chairs one room could contain!

We saw the hostel as an opportunity to not only provide affordable accommodation for our students, but as an income stream for Taruna, whilst providing clean and tidy short term accommodation to all visitors to the Hawke's Bay. Therefore early in January we replaced the existing ceiling, re-painted the living areas, sold excess furniture and carpet squares and thoroughly scrubbed the entire hostel from ceiling to floor. We spent an afternoon sewing new curtains from donated fabrics, sorting old and broken kitchen necessities and de-cluttering. The very old bedding and bed linen was replaced. The end result is that the hostel has had a high level of bookings ever since and the feedback we have received is positive. We ask that you please encourage visitors to Havelock North to think about the Taruna hostel for short-term accommodation.

We feel now that we almost have our 'house in order' and have created an environment which is not only clean and tidy with a feeling of beauty which naturally comes with this wonderful property, but that we are now ready to welcome guests, students and others back or new to Taruna and this has been a natural progression that we are experiencing this year.

Below is a picture of the view from the Taruna hostel, this land having been recently cleared to allow for the sale of a section owned by the Ruth Nelson Charitable Trust. The sale of this section has been carefully considered and we believe that the funds will take Taruna through to the next stages in a larger plan which will sure up Taruna's future.

An Update from our Charitable Trustees

2018 has infused Taruna with fresh energy. The Ruth Nelson Taruna Charitable Trust and Taruna College Trust have agreed to merge into a single trust, still to be called the Ruth Nelson Taruna Charitable Trust. Christopher Crompton-Smith has stepped down as chair after many years of valuable service, and Kelli Caldwell, formerly chair of the TCT, has taken up the chairperson role on the newly combined trust. We look forward to the governance and care the newly combined RNTCT will provide for Taruna in the years to come.

Events at Taruna this year

We wecomed Helle Thomson back with Joy Works. Helle has groups coming up for "Flow and Grow" Yoga on Monday evenings and Wednesday mornings.
A local support group meets every Tuesday evening up at the homestead.
Wednesday mornings we have two art classes with Rosie Simpson, our beginners class from 2017 has moved to a next-stage class and we have a class for very beginners after a shared morning tea.
Martin Mallow from Mallows Driving has been regularly running courses in the evening for defensive driving.
Alex Rodriguez from 5 Rhythms Wellington has run a weekend workshop in February and has another one coming up shortly.
Child Wellness Naturally Hawke's Bay ran a busy workshop last weekend and has further workshops planned.
We look forward to having Simplicity Parenting NZ running evening workshops in March.
Heartspace Yoga has a workshop in March.
We welcome back our Keirunga Quilters for several weekends this year
Other users have made bookings for private groups.

Keep an eye on our website for future events and workshops or pop up and have a look at our notice board which is now full of course information.

Library Book Amnesty

Cecile Hurford has continued with her wonderful voluntary work at the Taruna library. Cecile has discovered books that are almost falling apart, books that have needed to be returned to other organisations and just last week she discovered a list over very overdue books that have been obviously on the radar of previous staff. We have no idea of the current status of this list and therefore we ask that if you have a Taruna library book, or think you do, please hunt this out and return to us so that others can utilise this resource

Art from our New Beginners Art Class - Week Three

We hope that you have enjoyed this update from us. Whilst it has a property focus this time, our next focus is on our courses and continuing to build and develop not only the courses that we have available, but also bringing in new courses - more on this in our next newsletter.

It is good to be back at Taruna after the holidays and wonderful to receive very positive feedback from those utilising our facilities and being in conversation with us so far this year. Our goal is to move now into a new phase at Taruna, from review and understanding, to planning and future proofing.

With very warm wishes,

Vanessa van Kampen
Administrator

In the Heart - the loom of Feeling,
In the Head - the light of Thinking,
In the Limbs - the strength of Will.
Weaving of radiant Light,
Strength of the Weaving,
Light of the surging Strength:
Lo, this is Man!

From Verses & Meditations - Rudolf Steiner