Trustees have unanimously elected Prue Anderson as the new Chair of the Whanganui Community Foundation. Prue is a chartered accountant and partner in the accountancy firm Carey Smith & Co. Prue was previously Deputy Chair and has been a trustee of the Foundation for the past 5 years. Prue brings strengths in both finance and strategy as well as a deep understanding of the community.

Prue replaces Richard Thompson who finished his term as a trustee at the end of May. Richards many strengths will be missed, as will those of Pam Erni who also finished her term at the end of May.

The Minister of Finance has appointed four new trustees, Alaina Teki Clark, Dot McKinnon, Jenny Duncan and Richard Millward. Alaina is a businesswoman with interests in the hospitality and fuel industries. She has also been heavily involved in Women's Refuge both as Chair and a volunteer. Dot was Deputy Mayor until recently and has a strong community background as well as being involved in business. Jenny is a businesswoman and President of the Chamber of Commerce. She also has a long background in serving the community. Richard Millward is a Chartered accountant with his own practice and again has a background on both community and commercial boards. The Foundation welcomes their new trustees.

Preamble
On 8 June 2011, over 100 people attended a workshop convened by Whanganui Community Foundation to start setting some directions for Whanganui's future. Facilitated by Mary-Jane Rivers, the purpose of the workshop was to re-energise and give shape to the community's aspirations.

Introduction
Richard Thompson, immediate past chairman of the Foundation, set the scene, asking participants to set aside cynicism in favour of creativity, free association of ideas, and identifying opportunities.

Economic development is important, but we can't change the macro environment within which we live. So it is up to us to make Whanganui a good place to live, one that people come to or return to because they like the place. Whanganui's size and physicality give it life and make being here a pleasurable experience. We need to move from deficit thinking to surplus thinking; there are problems, but being happy through friends, family and social interaction matters.

Celebrate being us, and others will come.