Kia ora koutou,
I would like to welcome our new Trustees Tony MacDonald and Peter Meihana to the Board table. There is a wide range of skills now at the Board table which will only strengthen governance and decision making. Yesterday, all Trustees attended Te Pae Hihiri, a course in Māori Governance run by the Institute of Directors. The course touched on strategy and business planning and Trustees were asked to reflect on the direction of the Rūnanga, it’s purpose and where we need to be in 3-5 years. These are not easy questions and will need your input as we review our strategic direction annually.
I would also like to thank Leigh MacDonald and Tā Mark Solomon for their calm and wise guidance. Leigh moves to Chair the businesses and will still play a vital role in the organisation.
Weather permitting, there will be an evening vege planting at the Tuamātene maara kai this Thursday, 17 October at 5.30pm followed by a BBQ tea. We are hoping to have a good crop of veges for whānau by Christmas. Rick’s barbeques are legendary if you don’t feel like cooking on Thursday and we certainly need your help with the planting. Please RSVP the office if you are coming along for catering purposes.
I enjoyed the AGM last week immensely. The new format including kawemate, pool for the kids and dinner worked well and kudos to Jeremy MacLeod for developing the itinerary. A lot of work went into this and I would like to thank the office team for the hard mahi and humour despite some long days. Check out the photos of the AGM Dinner.
The Trustees were asked at the AGM about support for small businesses. Whilst we are not in a position to support start-ups financially, we are looking at setting up a shared office space in Rangitāne House for those members that need an office/meeting room occasionally. The room will come furnished with a desk, whiteboard and meeting table with bookings/maintenance will be managed from the office. We will trial this for a few months and if successful this will become permanent.
Finally, Takahi Whenua are organising a planting day and a barbeque lunch at Te Karaka (Cape Campbell) on Saturday 26 October, weather permitting. We will be departing from Tuamātene at 9am. Could you please RSVP the office by Thursday 24 October if you would like to go. At the moment we are pooling vehicles but we will organise more vehicles if required.
Go the Brave Blossoms in their quarter final against South Africa on Sunday!
Noho ora mai,
Nick