SUMMER MUSINGS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Did you enjoy the Summer weather this year? The Spring, with all its' blossoms and flowers was exceptionally beautiful and now the summer is glorious. The evening skies over the New Forest have been just out of this world. Dramatic colour layered with the rays of the sun shining through the clouds in a way that would have warranted many postcards views. Now the heather is out and the vast changing temperature from 24 degrees C at midday to 12 degrees C in the evening is indicating that even the warmest summer time is slowly drawing to a close. The daylight becoming that bit shorter. Schools are starting to prepare for the Autumn term and shops are bringing out selections of their slightly warmer clothes.

Now for us, it has been a time on the one hand of many changes and a steady

walking on, on the other. Quite a few co-workers and familiar faces have moved on and new co-workers have arrived and are still arriving. Through it all the households and workshops just carried on, be it with fewer people and at a much more leisurely pace. In contrast, for the Management Group, the Office and Finance people it has been quite a time. We have never had such a hectic summer. Many new demands have come towards us and all needed attention and care to find the right answers and solutions. Many thanks go to all the people involved, in making sure that the

Lantern Community can continue to function at its best and be a good home and workplace for all. Now it is time to introduce you to a few new people. At the beginning of Summer we welcomed Jeremy Haddon to the Finance Office, he is our new Finance Co-ordinator, he will have a tough job on his hands with the announced cuts in the budget. Also in the Finance Office is Michael Barnes, who has taken over from Mellissa and Hendrik as Trust Finance Co-ordinator. Mellissa left a little while ago and Hendrik will be retiring at the end of this month. The Office Group remains the steady, same people, luckily! Now as for the co-workers, over the Summer we helped Catharina, Konrad, Susy, Mark, Patrick, Takuma, Danielle and Lukas on their way to new adventures and welcomed Alexander (Dell Cottage), David (Barn Cottage), Ji-Sung (Dell House) and Joshua (Hillcrest). Co-workers still on their way to us but arriving in the next week are Henrik (Folly Farm), Lea (Candela), Lisa (Willow End) and Matthias (Folly Farm). In the meantime, we have also employed some new people who are coming to help us. There is Turkmen Dyer who will be working in Barn Cottage, Steve Lemon and Karen Cole in Candela and there is also some casual help for some of the households. Margreet, a Eurythmists and co-worker from the Sheiling School will be joining us in Barn Cottage. We wish everyone who has come to join us, a very fruitful and happy time at the Lantern. Many thanks for joining us, we are all looking forward to getting to know you and find a way together, to create that kind of community we can all call "Home".

Mimi