New Trustees for Community Foundation
The Whanganui Community Foundation has three new trustees. Caryl Blomkvist,
Esther Tinirau and Philippa Baker Hogan were appointed to the board recently.
Caryl Blomkvist is a lawyer, currently working at the Community Law Centre,
Esther Tinirau has recently commenced working as the Chief Executive for Nga
Rauru, and Philippa Baker-Hogan is a district councilor and Whanganui District
Health Board member. Trustees are appointed by the Minister of Finance.
Chair Richard Thompson welcomed the new appointments and said that the role
of a trustee is challenging one. “Most people think it would be great to give away
money but the reality of granting funds to achieve the maximum benefit for our
communities requires considerable knowledge and wisdom”.
The three new trustees replace retired trustees Bob Dempsey, Jim Farley and
Nancy Tuaine. Mr Thompson acknowledged the conscientious and thoughtful
contribution made to the Foundation by the three retiring trustees.
Stone Soup Esther Tinirau and Philippa Baker Hogan were appointed to the board recently.
Caryl Blomkvist is a lawyer, currently working at the Community Law Centre,
Esther Tinirau has recently commenced working as the Chief Executive for Nga
Rauru, and Philippa Baker-Hogan is a district councilor and Whanganui District
Health Board member. Trustees are appointed by the Minister of Finance.
Chair Richard Thompson welcomed the new appointments and said that the role
of a trustee is challenging one. “Most people think it would be great to give away
money but the reality of granting funds to achieve the maximum benefit for our
communities requires considerable knowledge and wisdom”.
The three new trustees replace retired trustees Bob Dempsey, Jim Farley and
Nancy Tuaine. Mr Thompson acknowledged the conscientious and thoughtful
contribution made to the Foundation by the three retiring trustees.
This story is set in a time of famine. The travelers ask for food and are denied by the villagers as they barely have enough for themselves. A traveler came to a village carrying nothing more than an empty pot. The traveler filled the pot with water, dropped a large stone in it, and placed it over a fire in the village square. A villager became curious and asked the traveler what he was doing. The traveler answered “I am making Stone Soup, which tastes wonderful, although it would taste even better if it had a carrot.” The villager went home and returned with a carrot which was added to the pot. Another villager passed by and asked the traveler what he was doing and again the traveler explained he was making stone soup. “It tastes wonderful, but it would be even more delicious if it had an onion.” The villager went home and soon returned with an onion, which was added to the pot. More and more villagers came to the village square to see what was going on, and each would add something to the pot. Finally, the call went out to the whole village “The Stone Soup is ready!
When tragedies hit communities the response is often to think that someone else should try to fix it, but for Judy Kumeroa and her team of willing volunteers they thought about what they could do to strengthen the community bonds and restore a sense of pride to the suburb. Their response was the community development based Stone Soup that was designed to help build community spirit, strengthen links between neighbours and lead to greater wellbeing for tamariki, rangatahi and whanau. They have worked closely with The Whanganui River Maori Trust Board, Te Oranganui and Housing NZ as well as individuals from the Gonville community. They have facilitated fun days every couple of months with food games entertainment and the opportunity to interact. Events have included bouncy castles for the children, face painting, areas with tables and chairs to sit and talk, basketball, touch rugby, volleyball, healthy eating games, hangi and an impromptu krump time. As time has gone local people have volunteered and wanted to be part of the project. Members of the Gonville community have contributed food to share and have given generously of their time. The events attract around 350 people at each gathering and have become an important part of the life of the Gonville community.
There has been a noticeable change in atmosphere as people have become more comfortable with the gatherings. There are routines routines (lunch, games, intentional discussion) as well as some variety, and this helps establish a sense of social safety as well as interest.
In April and June there was a ‘korero corner’ where people could meet to talk about what is going well and not so well in the community. From these discussions small teams have met outside of the gatherings to follow up on particular issues. In April a small group visited the Wanganui District Council to discuss concerns around the park and to thank the council for the new playground. At the June gathering bullying in the community of children against vulnerable adults (sole parenting mums, special needs) as well as other children was raised as a concern. Again, a small group has met and undertaken some research. Some ideas will go to the next Stone Soup korero corner in August.
Some stories from people:
One person feels the neighbourhood feels less scary as she gets familiar with faces from Stone Soup. There are still real risks to be considered but this has been helpful.
A couple of people have felt the courage to challenge some inappropriate behaviour in the community, although have identified the need for assertive communication skills so they don’t get into escalating conflict.
One person has offered her backyard for a community garden where we can grow vegetables for Stone Soup lunches and also for the wider community. This person has done courses in horticulture but has not felt able to make something happen with her skills. We are currently looking at the practicalities around this idea.
3 people commented in April that if this is really Stone Soup then the community needs to have the opportunity to bring food to the gathering. In June we invited donations from the community. A total of 5 pumpkins and $120 cash were given.
There in increasing involvement from the community. Community members help with the hangi, coffee area, set up and clean up. This is slowly increasing, which is our aim. One of the helpers lives alone, with minimal social interaction. She loves coming along to help wherever needed, despite her arthritis.
Young people are involved, it has become a pattern to have a group of boys sleepover at Te Ora Hou to ‘watch’ the hangi. They are up at 3am to help with the fire and put the hangi down at 7am. Some of these kids are also working off their community service hours, however the community doesn’t know this. They just see boys doing good work.
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