Presidents Corner
August 2021
It’s been just over a month since your elected exe-committee has been on the ground, and it certainly has been a time of fitting in and understanding each other. As I mentioned at the AGM, getting to understand the various levels within the RSA will take time. Time that is needed to understand what everything means and how each bit fits with the next, and how that fit connects to the full picture that is your RSA. That is the jigsaw that your committee has to understand as they connect each piece to get a better view of the whole. That is their role and responsibility, the whole and not just championing one cause.
We have had our first monthly meeting in July, if you haven’t already, you will see we have redesigned the minute template and also added in an “Interest Register” and “Attendance Calendar”. With regards to the interest register, it informs the rest of your committee where each committee members interests lay within the RSA, as these can become a “conflict of interest” at meetings. The attendance calendar tracks our attendance to meetings. We are also upgrading and modernising our Whakatane RSA (Inc) letterhead.
During this period, we have also employed a new “General Manager”. Our GM will start their new tenure from Monday 23rd August 2021. On this day at 10am, we will be having a mihi whakatau/welcome to our GM and are hopeful that if you have time, you might come down and make our GM feel welcome. Any Returned and Services attending, please wear full medals.
As part of our community relationship, we continue to provide sponsorship of funds where we can. On behalf of the RSA and Cookies kitchen, we raised $2,150 for the Pink Ribbon foundation (Women’s Breast Cancer) and were very happy to send those funds to them. Your RSA also gave funds raised here ($800) to Simon Ackroyd, Principal of Apanui School. This small contribution on behalf of your RSA is to support our school as they continue to rebuild their lives that was touched by a fire this year. The resilience of their teachers, their students and their whanau are a testament to what we as a community organisation can do to show our appreciation for the mahi that they do.
As we head out of the cold frosty mornings that is winter, we look ahead to what spring will bring us. With the new growth that spring brings to us all, as we head outdoors to enjoy longer days, so too is your committee getting ready for busy months ahead. There is a relationship to be built, there is understanding between new parties, there is a desire to do well with each other. This new relationship will shape a new tomorrow, we are very excited about this and what it might mean for our RSA.
Hei manaakitana
Victor Hape
President