Golden Bay Sustainable Living Centre
Our team at the
Sustainable
Living Centre
We are a team of local people committed to healthy food systems and sustainable living. Many of us have lived in Golden Bay for years now, come from a variety of different cultures and walks of life but share a common mission and dream for a better future that involves good food and connected community.
Te Wharerangi Trust which administers the Centre is made up of an elected Board of Trustees who volunteer their time to keep this project running smoothly. This team is supported by our staff members and volunteers.
Te Wharerangi Trust
Sol Morgan
Trust Chair
Avid organic gardener, seed saver, educator and community activist. Sol is passionate about inspiring people to grow healthy food and treat the environment as a living organism, with care and respect. For the past 25 years he’s been involved with community gardens and community education around living more sustainably. He runs his own business GroWise Consultancy helping people develop healthy ecosystems especially edible landscapes.
Murray Rogers
Trust Treasurer
Murray Rogers has been a Te Wharerangi trustee for over 25 years actively engaged in many roles. He contributed to the formation of Golden Bay Organics, a retail shop of organic products, which opened in 1999. He has been a significant player of the local alternative currency, helped resettle former refugees into New Zealand, and teaches Scrabble in the local schools. He is currently a professional volunteer, balancing this with playing tournament Scrabble and writing poetry.
Rita Scholten
Trustee / HR Leader
Rita has lived in Golden Bay since 1998 of which 17 years in a self built strawbale house with many creative details. She lived in an unintentional community where many earth building projects happened from round load bearing strawbale to cob and light earth. It so empowering to build with natural local materials that she loves to share that passion with the Sustainable Living Centre.
Robina McCurdy
General Trustee
Robina McCurdy is the founder of the Institute of Earthcare Education Aotearoa, co-founder of Tui Land Trust & Community in Golden Bay, NZ and pioneer of the S.E.E.D. programme in South Africa and Brazil. She has been engaged in community development, organic growing, permaculture design/tutoring and educational resources production, on a global scale for the past 35 years – for households, neighbourhoods, schools, farms, ecovillages and entire bioregions.
Peter Bromley
Trustee / Secretary
Peter moved to Golden Bay 4 years ago, and was associated with the SLC almost immediately, being a trustee for the last 2 years. He is passionate about sustainability and resilience and runs a small business based on these principles, installing small-scale solar and irrigation systems, and advocating for preparedness for natural disasters.
SLC Staff
Rosie Hadfield
Gardens Manager
Rosie is passionate about sustainable, regenerative vegetable growing in community. She is fascinated by, and advocates for, the benefits of helping people get their hands in the soil on their wellbeing: nurturing connection with themselves, their food and their land. Rosie began Market Gardening in the UK by volunteering and then working at various Community Supported Agriculture Projects in Cornwall and North Wales, before moving back to New Zealand in 2022 and becoming involved in the SLC.
Racheal Helleur
Head Gardener
Racheal joined the Spring 2020 Sustainable Living Course upon realising that she wanted to move beyond not just appreciating our environment, but learning more deeply about it to become a better kaitiaki of it too. Racheal fell in love with the community aspect of being at the SLC and living the permaculture lifestyle. She quickly knew this was the journey forward for her and loves the continuous learning cycle of being in the gardens.
Martine Baanvinger
Sustainable Living Course Coordinator
Community Engagement Coordinator
I'm very passionate about connecting communities to enhance the planet’s sustainability. Let’s start living sustainably in our own homes and communities so we can inspire others on this planet. The SLC offers knowledge, innovation and education in sustainable practices. It’s a place to connect, share and learn. I organize volunteer programs, events, workshops and co-ordinate our Spring and Autumn Sustainable Living Course. For venue hire you can contact me as well.
Stef Jongkind
Finance and Accounts
I've been involved in the SLC as a volunteer over the past couple of years during fundraising events and since November 2022 as financial administrator, which is a role I'm also fulfilling for 2 other local Charities. I have a background in IT and an interest and experience in earth building and I am also involved in local rites of passage work for
teenage boys and their fathers.
