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.
SLC Staff
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.
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.
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.
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.
Leo
Trustee & Arborist
Leo loves the Sustainable Living centre. This place has given him so much purpose and involvement within truly sustainable community connections.
Since first visiting the gardens to help his mother with her garden plot, to then volunteering on a Tuesday morning with some of the local traveller crowd from a community up the ways, to now being proud to fulfill the role of infrastructures within the SLC's board of trustees. His energy and investment grows freely each time he visits the SLC gardens.
He is working to create maintainable, regenerative, and sustainable spaces for all to enjoy!
Murray Rogers
Trustee & 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.
Marco De Gruya
Trustee & Educator
Marco is a registered teacher based in Golden Bay, working across local schools as a reliever. He brings a practical, grounded approach to education, with a focus on wellbeing, movement, and connection to the environment.
He enjoys connecting people and initiatives across the Bay, and is always keen to learn, collaborate, and share what’s working. His work extends into community development through his involvement with the Sustainable Living Centre, Civil Defence, and environmental initiatives, supporting resilient and connected communities.