Written by Chani Grieve
Kia ora e te whānau,
Greetings from your NEW Board of Trustees! Kumanu is our way of keeping you up to date with what has been happening, what we’re working on, and what we’re grappling with. It’s been quite a while since our last Kumanu, and much has been happening, so we will try to catch you up on the main events as briefly and thoroughly as we can.
Recent Minutes and Reports
Including 11th April, 16th May, 27th June BoT meetings, and the most recent Treasurer’s Report (July)
Can all be found in this folder
What’s been happening:
The new Board has been elected
At the AGM we said thank you and farewell to Maree Murray and Georgia Bowick, and we welcomed Graham Sandlant and Ross McInness to the Board of Trustees. The five of us have met a couple of times already, mostly just getting our bearings and feeling into how it is we want to work together, and so far it’s feeling really good. We hope to keep each other supported and sane as we strive for grounded and spacious efficiency in our mahi (work).
L-R Graham Price, Chani Grieve, Ross McInness, Louise Petzold, Graham Sandlant
As always we are tremendously grateful for all the support we receive from all our various sub-committees, the Elders, our staff and volunteers, and wider community members. There is always room for offering your particular skills and energy to Wangapeka, so if you feel moved to get more closely involved, please do reach out to us if you would like to offer your tangible support.
AGM decisions – Fee increase for 2026/2027
At the AGM, members tasked the new Board with implementing the next fee increase.
There will be a $2 increase in both the food and accommodation rates for the 2026/2027 financial year, in line with inflation. This will come into effect from April 1st 2026.
What we are reckoning with:
As you may be aware, we currently face many challenges, including:
• Ageing core community
• Operational overload on the Board of Trustees
• Ageing infrastructure and major repairs and maintenance issues.
• Financial sustainability challenges: rising costs, limited income streams
• Ensuring proper care of our caretakers and volunteers to avoid burnout
• Nurturing and training a new generation of Elders and Teachers to transmit the Dharma
All of this requires a steady stream of creativity and commitment by many.
Reviews Coming and Underway
Program and Structure – we are in the process of seeking feedback from all the various groups who currently use Wangapeka, essentially to clarify the needs and wishes of our core community, the centre users, and also to broaden our base of support, both financially and practically, for the centre to thrive. This data will be used to determine what is possible in terms of future use and programming at the centre.
Alongside this will also be a review of our membership structure and pricing.
There will be a gathering of sub-committees and the Board on October 19th. This is intended to clarify roles, establish what resources are available and what might be needed, and to support harmonious communication and functioning between and among the various groups that keep Wangapeka going.
New Land Caretaker needed
Ethan Mills completed his 6 month contract in early August. He is staying on as an independent contractor 2 days a week to keep up with essential tasks and support the centre during this transition. He will be heading up north by mid-October.
So we are on the hunt for a new land caretaker to begin as early as September so that they can have a thorough handover and induction process while Ethan is still with us.
You can read the full job ad here, and please send any recommendations or enquiries about the position to Louise Petzold – coordinator@wangapeka.org
Support for Kaya onsite
We are starting to warm up into our busier Spring season, with courses happening every weekend for the next month. If any of our “regulars” who know the centre well are available over the next month to go up to the Centre for a day or overnight to help Kaya prep the centre for courses, this would be hugely appreciated!
Please get in touch with Kaya if you would like to go up and help. centrecaretaker@wangapeka.org
Maintenance issues
This is a big one. Wangapeka is of the age now where things are definitely deteriorating. This needs to be a major priority to keep Wangapeka in good shape for years to come.
Work has begun on repairing the roof on Namgyal Hut, thanks to Glenn Harley and with support from Ethan Mills. Work on Omahu hut has had to be put off indefinitely due to budget constraints. We have just had a major slip on the track to the waterfall, which is also our only access to our water supply (see photos below), and we are aware of other significant maintenance issues that are going to need attention sooner rather than later.
We are going to need to have a major fundraising drive in the next year to support our maintenance projects.
If you have any experience and energy to help us kick-start a fundraising campaign, we would love to hear from you!
Also, our long-serving Maintenance Sub-Committee is now a skeleton crew of just Graham Price and Graham Sandlant. This essential aspect of Wangapeka‘s functioning is in genuine need of some new input and energy.
If you can offer your body, your energy and your skills in any way to the Maintenance team, please get in touch.
What remains of the bridge on the Waterfall Track after the recent slip.
The track to the waterfall and water source – now an abseiling challenge!
Policies
This is never the most exciting topic, but it is utterly essential to the good functioning of Wangapeka! Louise Petzold continues to chip away at updating and revising many of our policies to make sure they are fit for purpose, as part of our overall mission to make Wangapeka function more optimally, and reduce operational friction in terms of everyone knowing what to do, when.
Recent updates include the Responding to Difficulties Policy, and the Privacy and Information Sharing Policy, which you can have a look at here.
In other important news :
Mark and Kath are coming to live at the Centre
We are delighted to announce that Mark Schrader and Kath Mitchell accepted our invitation to come and live at Wangapeka again, this time for 12 months. They will set up at Triple Gem in September, and will be practitioners in residence, to provide a continuity of Dharma study and practice, and to support the ongoing evolution of a community of practice at Wangapeka. We are hugely grateful to them both for this commitment, and are looking forward to their supportive presence and engagement on the property.
The WET has agreed to cover their food and accommodation costs for the year that they are in residence.
If anyone is inspired to make a donation to contribute to their food costs you can do so into our Westpac bank account 03-0703-0156597-03
with MarkKathFood as the reference.
Land Care Group Planting Day
A successful planting day at Wangapeka was held on August 9th. 7 people came and planted 220 native trees along the track to Omahu. Ray Caird contributed 120 trees. Svaha!
Rastus
Some of you may know that our dear cat Rastus is coming towards the end of his life. Kaya is caring for Rastus in what appears to be the final stages, although he keeps on surprising us! Rastus was brought to Wangapeka 20 years ago by Mike Elliott, and has been a loving friend to many caretakers. Here is a picture of Rastas and Mike when Mike last visited the centre in 2022 – they both still recognised and loved each other!
Sonam Senge
Many in the Wangapeka community will know of Sonam Senge, a treasured teacher and one of the great lions of the Namgyal-inspired lineage, whose presence has brought great benefit to the world. Senge’s health has been fragile, and his community in Canada are calling for prayers of support for Senge at this time.
Phew! You get the sense of the immensity of the task, and also the preciousness of the circumstances we find ourselves in, in being kaitiaki/guardians of this special place.
Our next in-person BoT morning meetings are scheduled for : Saturday 13th September (Nelson), Saturday 11th October (Motueka), Saturday 8th November (Wangapeka).
You are always welcome to join any of our BoT meetings.
Sarva Mangalam!
Chani Grieve on behalf of the Board of Trustees
Contact Details :
Board Of Trustees
Caretaking team
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