| What a Year
Lyndsay Simpkin [2009-12-21 16:27:35]
What a year! If I had to sum it up in a word “Rollercoaster” would come to mind in what could be described as a year of highs and lows. Here’s a few reflections and thoughts as we approach the Christmas season.
The Highs
Standing on Mt Ruapehu’s Dome summit with 50 teenagers and staff having completed the Sea to Summit, the Four Corners Journey Challenge was certainly an emotional highlight as well as a fitting celebration of our 25 year anniversary and a great start to the year.
Visiting Nepal, trekking in the Langtang Valley, attempting some peaks, painting the school at Haibung and sharing the experience with staff (and their families) who have contributed so much to the development and growth of the Trust.
Gaining OutdoorsMark and validation of the quality of experiences we aspire to deliver.
Easter staff reunion. Fun times with staff past and present and lots of catching up and reminiscing.
Six successful Journey programmes. Great opportunities to input into the lives of young people and see new attitudes and learning take root.
Here are some quotes from Journey students welcome home speeches.
“I took big deep breaths while the sun was beating down on me slowly taking my energy. My legs would start to get sore but words kept repeating in my head – Never Give Up”
“Going on the 10 day Journey really challenged me. Now I am back I have more confidence and open my heart out to people.”
“I saw a great and relevant quote on a wall. Success is a Journey, not a Destination. We have all made it to our destination but more importantly we have all made a Journey “
The Lows
For a year that started with so much promise there has been some real low points. Like many organizations, and of course businesses and families, we have not been immune to the recession.
For us this has meant programme cancelations as other agencies we work alongside face similar financial issues, significantly reduced funding from regular sources of grants and a general decrease in donations. Managing cashflow, fun at the best of times, has been an ongoing stress.
As Trustees we also had to abandon a significant property development project we had worked on for 7 years as lack of sales saw a rising interest bill negate its potential for profit. While we are fortunate to “escape” without major impact on the Trust or Trustees the loss of the projects potential and the feeling of wasted years has been emotionally draining.
Overheard
“Only two more days till we can Google stuff” (overheard from a student on a recent trip).
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche once said “Better to know nothing than half know many things” If he were alive today he might well conclude that we half know so many things we’ve lost track of what’s really important to know. A recent New Zealand Herald article titled “Brains strain with overload of information” reported:
“Roger Bohn, co-author of the study called How Much Information, said: “I think one thing is clear: our attention is being chopped into shorter intervals and that is probably not good for thinking deeper thoughts”
Edward Hallowell, a New York psychiatrist and author specializing in attention deficit disorder, said: “Never before in human history have our brains had to process as much information as they do today.
“We have a generation of people who I call computer suckers because they are spending so much time in front of a computer screen or on their mobile phone or BlackBerry.
“They are so busy processing information from all directions they are losing the tendency to think and to feel. Much of what they are exposed to is superficial. People are sacrificing depth and feeling and becoming cut off and disconnected from other people.”
This reminds me that our work is important on many different levels. In his book “Last Child in the Woods”, author Richard Louv coins the term “nature-deficit disorder” to describe the consequences of separating children from the natural world.
At Adventure Specialties Trust we have long believed in the importance of reconnecting, our sometimes nature-deficit disordered, young people with the outdoors and providing the time, place and space to explore deeper feelings and issues – not to mention basic knowledge like scrape, rinse and then wash!
Christchurch
Our Christchurch branch continues to grow and recently we have made the decision to move our offices and our storage area together in one premises. With a sunny North facing aspect, winter days in the office will no doubt be a lot warmer!
Thanks
Through all the above we have much to be thankful for. Wonderful opportunities to achieve our mission; many loyal client groups whose work to is an inspiration to us; another year with no major safety issues or accidents and incidents and not least some very faithful financial supporters and a few “out of the blue” donations, the timing of which could not have been better. To all who have supported the Trust – thankyou.
10 Shopping Days to Christmas!!
In the run up to Christmas its easy, even for Christians, to forget the real significance of Christmas.
Pondering the “Season of Advent”, it struck me that the word adventure must have the same or a similar root.
Advent is from the Latin adventus – an important arrival and adventure from adventura – a thing about the happen.
For the Trustees and staff of Adventure Specialties Trust our hope for our clients is that in all our adventures and explorations the thing about to happen is, in the words of TS Elliot, “we will arrive where we started and know the place for the first time”.
Merry Christmas
Lyndsay
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