In April 2014, The Haven on Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada hosted the annual Holistic Centers Gathering. They have just created their first ever Video Annual Report and it’s an inspirational 11 minutes that’s well worth watching, both for an insight into their centre and for potential ideas of your own!
Here’s the play button to watch it on YouTube:
For more details please contact
Rachel Davey
Executive Director
rachel@haven.ca
For the second year in a row the ‘Peek’ team ran a workshop after the Holistic Centers Gathering in support of emerging centers and people in various stages of creating and developing their vision. Alison, a participant in the April 2014 Peek workshop, shares her experience reflecting on how she found the workshop both helpful and supportive.
Fear is a powerful emotion that can suffocate any business idea. I created everything in a vacuum, which led to a sense of isolation, yet the solution to form connections with people and build on the ideas required stepping out of my comfort zone. At my last networking event I hid in the washroom, but this time I was determined not to make friends with the toilet but with real people. In April 2014, I challenged myself to show up on Gabriola Island and live my mission at The Haven; I had to be visible and find my voice (literally raising the volume) in order to effectively help others do the same. [Read more…]
Come Alive is the enticing name of a program that draws people from all over the country, and further afield, to a tiny island of the West Coast of Canada. I imagine each one of us sitting in the opening circle were curious to find out what this really means, some perhaps clearer than others as to the reasons that drew us here.
For 30 years The Haven has offered programs in personal and professional development on beautiful Gabriola Island, B.C. and I was part of the latest intake responding to the invitation to ‘grow, transform, connect.’ After a few days exploring Vancouver I arrived via seaplane and then ferry, the day becoming progressively brighter with stunning views across the water.
I actually came to Canada to attend the annual Holistic Centers Gathering. However, travelling all the way from Scotland and with an ever curious spirit, I was keen to experience The Haven on a deeper level by extending my stay and immersing myself in the learning environment of another center. [Read more…]
We look forward to welcoming 27 participants from 18 centers in Canada, the US, Scotland and China to the 2014 International Holistic Centers Gathering, hosted this year by The Haven on Gabriola Island, beautiful British Columbia Canada.
Representatives are joining us from the following centers: [Read more…]
The excitement is building for the International Holistic Centers Gathering which runs from April 6-11 at The Haven on beautiful Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada.
If you have not yet registered, please do so soon. You will be joining colleagues from centers of all different types, ages and locations. Together, we will once again be co-creating an intense and rich week of learning from our differences and similarities. There are already more than 20 participants from all over Canada and the US, as well as Europe and Asia.
The agenda offers the opportunity both to discuss the topics of most interest to those of us who are responsible for running our centers as well as enjoy the experience of the best that The Haven and Gabriola Island has to offer. The agenda covers topics such as:
As ever, the agenda will be negotiated throughout the Gathering to ensure that all participants get maximum value. Sessions will be facilitated by participants who have experience in the topic under discussion. There will be opportunities for breakout sessions on specific topics that may be of interest to a smaller number of participants. Our intention is to remain flexible and responsive to the needs of the group.
If you are registered and have a suggestion or contribution to the agenda, please contact Rachel Davey by email (rachel@haven.ca). I’d love to hear from you!
To register for the Gathering, please contact the Haven registration office by phone (1 800 222 9211 x 1) or email (register@haven.ca). Our registration staff are available seven days a week from 9am to 6pm Pacific time (PST).
And just as a reminder, if you are not a center representative and you want to know more about how holistic centres work, join us for A Peek Behind the Scenes: discussions on starting, running and growing a holistic centre. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of learning from six representatives (with over 100 years combined experience) from five centers which have been in existence for more than 200 years!
This workshop will run from April 11-14 and you can find out more by following this link to The Haven web site (http://www.haven.ca/programs/a-peek-behind-the-scenes.html)
The Haven in Gabriola Island, BC, Canada are delighted to be hosting the next annual Holistic Centers Gathering from 6 – 11 April, 2014. This is a unique opportunity to connect with your peers from around the world and share ideas, insights, wisdom and experience in an open, supportive and creative way.To preserve the quality and depth of our dialogue, this event will be limited to approx 30 attendees (max. two people from any organization to encourage diversity).
The Haven’s Executive Director, Rachel Davey, says, ‘We are delighted to be hosting the 2014 Centres Gathering and look forward to welcoming representatives from centres all over the world to our beautiful location. The Gathering is a unique opportunity for likeminded centres to share best practices, in the knowledge that what supports an individual centre to thrive strengthens the network as a whole. We are also fortunate enough to be located in a part of Canada known for being ‘the best place on earth’.
For more information please contact the Executive Director of The Haven, Rachel Davey, via email rachel@haven.ca
We hope your center can be represented at our 2014 gathering and look forward to hearing from you!
Warm wishes,
The 2014 International Holistic Centers’ Gathering at The Haven on Gabriola Island is now less than two months away. If you have not registered yet, please do so soon!
You can register by contacting The Haven’s registration office by phone (1 800 222 91-211 x 1) or by email (register@haven.ca). There is a member of staff (Morag, Tina, Cindy or Naomi) in our registration office from 9am to 6pm Pacific Time seven days a week.
I am now in the process of putting the agenda for the Gathering together, and I would love your input. My experience of the Gatherings has taught me that there are three great benefits to attending:
The opportunity to meet representatives from other centres and find out more about them and their centre.
The 2014 agenda will weave all of the elements above together, and will be even better with your input.
Every year there are a number of general centre issues that get covered at the Gathering, which include the following:
I would like to hear from you if you think there is something important missing from this list. Or if there are issues on this list that are more important than others. I would also love to hear from anyone with experience and passion for a particular topic who might like to facilitate a session. Please contact me by email (rachel@haven.ca) if there is anything that you would like to contribute to the agenda of the 2014 Gathering or a wish that you hope we can fulfil while you are here.
And just as a reminder, if you are not a centre representative and you want to know more about how holistic centres work, join us for A Peek Behind the Scenes: discussions on starting, running and growing a holistic centre. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of learning from six representatives (with over 100 years combined experience) from 5 centres which have been in existence for more than 200 years! This workshop will run from April 11-14 and you can find out more by following this link to The Haven web site (http://www.haven.ca/programs/a-peek-behind-the-scenes.html)
Rachel Davey
Executive Director
The Haven
We’re Hiring!
The Haven is looking to recruit an Assistant Executive Director. This person will be responsible for every aspect of a person’s experience of The Haven from when s/he steps on to the Haven property to when s/he leaves, with the exception of the educational content of the programs.
The Assistant ED also deputizes for the Executive Director in her absence. We are seeking someone who is passionate about the onsite experience of The Haven and ensures that it matches the high quality of our educational programming. This job would particularly suit someone with a proven track record in working at a managerial level in hotel, facility or resort management or other similar experience with a customer orientation.
For more details and to download the full job description go to the Haven web site (http://www.haven.ca/contact-us/jobs.html).
A peek behind the scenes: discussions on starting, running and growing a holistic centre
Each year, centres from around the world gather at a conference known as The International Holistic Centres Gathering. The Haven is hosting the 2014 Gathering, and afterwards is offering this program, which ran very successfully at Esalen in 2013. If you are dreaming of starting a holistic center or are simply curious about how centers do what they do, consider joining this program for what is sure to be a weekend of rich discussion. This isn’t a step-by-step process on how to start a retreat center, however there will be representatives from various established retreat centers available to explain the beginnings of their organizations and how they conduct business. Representatives from The Haven and other retreat centers will facilitate this program. Together they represent over 100 years of experience in running centres. [Read more…]
I am excitedly looking forward to welcoming participants from all over the world to The Haven for the International Holistic Centres Gathering, April 6-11 2014.
The beginning of 2014 seemed like a good time to give you some more information about Gabriola Island, the home of The Haven for the past 30 years, and how to get here.
Gabriola Island features on Wikipedia, and the entry gives the following data about our geographic location: Gabriola Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia, in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Gabriola lies about 5 kilometres east of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, to which it is linked by a 20-minute ferry trip from Nanaimo harbour. It has a land area of about 57.6 square kilometres and a resident population of slightly more than 4,000. The map may make it clearer where we are! You can find out more about the history of the island and some theories about the island got its name, on Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriola_Island) [Read more…]