Barbados Reiki Association

The new committee for the Barbados Reiki Association was elected at the AGM on February 4, 2010. The members are:

President - Rosina Wiltshire

Vice President -Martha Isaac

Secretary -Sonia Johnson

Treasurer - Eugene Daniel

2-yr Director - Trevor Davis

1-yr Director -Francine Cadogan

1-yr Director - Kathleen Hurley

Committee Member - H Ben Parris

This excerpt from the President’s Report outlines activities undertaking by the Barbados Reiki Association during the year.

Activities

Monthly General Meetings

At the beginning of the year, the committee decided, with the agreement of the membership, that healing would play a more major role in our meetings. Despite a few challenges, we have for the most part managed to make this happen.

In keeping with our mission of spreading the Reiki message as widely as possible, the Association either hosted or took part in the following activities during the year.

BMEX (29-31 May 2009)

The Association was invited to participate in BMEX, again under the umbrella of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI). There were fewer volunteers than usual, but we still managed to maintain a decent presence at the show and the Reiki treatments were much appreciated by the visitors.

Complementary Health Day – (28 June 2009)

Formerly called the Open Day, the Complementary Health Day was held at the Ursuline Convent Hall for the second consecutive year. Other than Reiki practitioners, there were 20 additional therapists. Again, many Reiki initiates, members and non-members, volunteered their time to assist with setting up and clearing up, giving treatments, manning the welcome table and helping with the reception area. Special mention must be made of Sheila Leslie-John who once again produced the necessary signs in her beautiful calligraphy. I also wish to thank Michael Rudder, who, among many other things, generously contributed to the cost of producing a new banner for the Complementary Health Day as well as taking on the responsibility of having the old banner updated.  Rosemarie Layne and Michael Rudder looked after our public relations campaign. The event was well publicized on radio and television and in the print media and this was apparent in the numbers of visitors who attended. Feedback from the therapists indicated that they were pleased with the venue, the participation arrangements and the number of visitors to their booths.

Body Mind Spirit Expo – (11 October 2009)

This very promising first expo, the brainchild of our own Melena Simmons, took place at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre.  We were fortunate to have several people volunteer their time to help in the Reiki corner and a good deal of interest was exhibited by the visiting public.

Reiki Gathering – (29 October to 01 November 2009)

The Reiki Gathering had originally been planned for October 2008 but was postponed because it was thought that there were insufficient personnel to carry it forward. Even as late as the beginning of June 2009 the Gathering Committee was still having second thoughts about hosting the Gathering for that same reason. However, we were persuaded to go ahead by Michael Rudder, who must be given credit for having faithfully held the vision of such an event for many years – in fact since 1995.

Once the decision had been taken, it was full speed ahead as there were myriad things to be done in a relatively short time.

We were fortunate to be able to secure the premises of the Barbados Workers’ Union Labour College for the event. This afforded us a residential facility, on-spot catering, beautifully landscaped gardens which offered great atmosphere for early-morning yoga and tai chi, separate space for the registration office and an enormous auditorium to accommodate all our activities.  Marcia Small-Burrowes at the Labour College was ever pleasant and helpful as was the housekeeper, Mrs Collymore. Our vegetarian participants unfortunately had some difficulties with the menu, but they took steps to deal with this.

All in all, it was a very rewarding and enriching experience and I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the people who made up the Gathering Committee and the other people who helped. Everyone put in a tremendous effort.

End-of-year Social Gathering (04 December 2009)

This was a fun-filled evening, with an exciting programme of entertainment. We were not at all affected by being locked out of the usual room and having to use the smaller one. There was ballroom dancing by Paulette and Wilfred, oriental dancing by Rosemarie, story-telling by Suzy, a comical musical skit by Julia, harmonica playing by Arthur Cadogan, carol singing by Voices in Christ, singing and guitar playing by our surprise but very welcome guest, Indra Rudder, and a game with prizes at the end. The buffet, provided by the members, was also exciting and varied.

IICA Agro-tourism Day – (12 December 2009)

This was a new event held by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. A health and wellness component was included in the event and it is in this context that the Association was asked to participate. The invitation was issued extremely late, but it was felt that the possible resulting exposure would be of benefit to the Association and to Reiki in general. However, attendance at the fair was very poor and the location of the Reiki area was not easily visible, so visitors to our booth were few. I do, however, wish to thank all those who volunteered to assist despite the short notice.

More photos from this year’s open day:

The Barbados Reiki Association’s AGM was held on Thursday 5 February 2009 in order to elect a new committee. The outgoing President and his small team were thanked for the sterling work they had done over the year, having organised a successful Open Day as well as a Retreat. The new Committee are to meet shortly to discuss the future movement of the Association in Barbados, bearing in mind the wishes of its members and projects in the pipeline.

(L to R): June Ann Pinkerton, Eugene Daniel, Trevor Davis, Verity Dawson, Kathleen Hurley. Geoff Ramsay and Rosina Wiltshire are not shown.

The following are the names, offices and contact numbers of the new Committee. The incoming group welcomes back old members, is keen to induct new members, and will be happy to publish suggestions, articles and recommended reading on the website – in fact, anything which is interesting to people who have been instructed in Reiki.

President – Verity Dawson + 246-230-9753

Vice President – Kathleen Hurley + 246 428-4186

Secretary – JuneAnn Pinkerton +246 425-9924

Treasurer – Eugene Daniel + 246 426-5722

2-year Committee Member – Rosina Wiltshire + 246  228-0933

1 year Committee Member – Geoffrey Ramsey +246 437-2932

1 year Committee Member – Trevor Davis

This is to advise you of the Barbados Reiki Association’s 7th Annual General Meeting, as required by the Constitution of the Association.

Date: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: The Main Guard (Clock Tower), The Garrison, St. Michael

All Reiki initiates are invited to the meeting. Please do come to find out what the Association is doing for Reiki in Barbados.

There is ample parking. We will be having refreshments and a prize draw later in the evening!

The Agenda is attached. If you wish to have any other items added, please contact the President, Michael Rudder (435-2506) or Vice President, Kathleen Hurley (428-4186), to advise on same.

There are seven Committee posts to be filled; these are noted on the Agenda. Please remember that you can only vote if you are a member in good financial standing. To facilitate this, the Treasurer will be available to accept your fees ($50.00) half an hour before the meeting is due to start.

Also enclosed is a Nomination Form. The closing date for nominations is Thursday, 29 January 2009. If you wish to vote but are unable to attend, you may use the enclosed proxy voting form. Please note that you are entitled to one vote per position.

The Committee encourages your attendance at the AGM as your support and comments are extremely important to help determine how the new Committee will direct its efforts. For this year, the thrust was to continue to make Reiki more visible through various public programmes, such as the Open Day, The Nation’s Healthy Lifestyles Fair and participating in the American Embassy’s Health Fair. In addition, there was much promotion of our Open Day on Radio and Television. This year the Open Day was held for the first time at the Ursuline Convent’s School Hall. Fourteen other therapists participated. There were also displays of Yoga, Tai Chi and belly dancing.

Initial plans for a Reiki Gathering in October were traversed to 2009. Instead we held our annual retreat – this time at Verdun in St. John.

This meeting will provide you with an opportunity to share your views and to take part in guiding the Association into the future.

If you have been trained and inducted in the Reiki method of healing but are not a member of the Association, this letter is also being sent to you to encourage you to join and to attend the AGM. The present Committee is aware of the vast Reiki population in Barbados and suggests that re-linking into the healing community will be an important step to joining our energies in a meaningful way. If you have not been practicing Reiki, the meetings offer you an excellent opportunity to reconnect to the method.

The present Management Committee, on behalf of its current members, as well as those that have served through the year, wishes to thank the membership for its confidence in voting us into these positions of trust. It has been our privilege to keep the Reiki spirit alive and well through the year.

Please bring the Agenda with you. The Constitution and draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 2008 will be available at the meeting.
In Reiki unity, love and light

Michael Rudder
President

(Note: The official notice of the AGM has been reprinted in full. Please contact the President, Michael Rudder (435-2506) or Vice President, Kathleen Hurley (428-4186), if you wish to receive any of the attachments mentioned.)