Have you ever found a place where you can feel peace, be challenged and personally grow? A place that you know will provide you space to focus on what’s important but also push you to become better than when you arrived…
The Finlay Park team asked me to write a few words about Finlay Park and what the community meant to me many years ago as a camper and camp leader. My family have had the blessing of being involved with Finlay Park for three generations, with each generation experiencing something special and new.
Finlay Park is not just a stunning location, it is about helping people to feel part of a community and encouraging individuals to find out what they are capable of.
I personally have numerous great memories of camping at Finlay Park but the one memory that I want to share is difficult to explain as cuts through to the core of the Finlay Park experience, people. Both happiest and hardest day for me at Finlay Park was on the final day of a camp, as we realized that the camp was finishing. It was sad for the campers to leave but they were also happy due to the experiences they’d had, and the friendships developed. This made for lots of emotional long goodbyes, but it was also encouraging as we knew that the camp had an amazing positive impact on these young people’s lives. For me this memory happened over 30 years ago but it remains one of the most encouraging days of my life.
Finlay Park infrastructure and building do need to be developed and maintained for future generations to enjoy and share. Young people still need a place where life long memories can be made, and individual character can grow. Investing in Finlay Park carries on a legacy of developing people that goes well beyond its Lake Karapiro boundaries.
Scott Kingston (aka Stretch 1990 – 1994)