Castanet

Naramata Centre is 67 years old and finding itself in tough times.

In 1947, the Naramata Centre was created to provide courses and experiences relevant to the role of Christians in the church and in the community and to serve as a Centre for the study of present day issues and problems in the church, in the community and in society at large.

Our roots are with the United Church of Canada as one of their program and retreat centres.

The Centre at Naramata is seeking solutions to a number of financial issues in recent years.

Among them are possibly contracting out seasonal employment, instead of someone being directly employed, and working in partnerships with other organizations.

“Over the last couple of years, it was becoming evident that the financial viability of the centre was no longer there,” said Jim Simpson, the head of business development . “We have seen an economic downturn and a demographic shift, with fewer young families coming.”

Part of it, as well, is even when the centre was operating well, it was only just breaking even, and therefor not supporting infrastructure properly, he added.

Among the solutions are the contracting out piece, which could impact 10 to 12 seasonal CUPE workers, as well as better delivery of services by working in partnerships with other organizations.

Simpson says the idea is to work with the union to move forward with restructuring to achieve the financial viability it seeks.

To make the centre viable it needs to host more conferences and to be in a partnership with educational organizations that could run courses at the centre.

“Those are the main two things we are looking at to resolve the financial situation,” said Simpson. “Because our goal is to be able to continue to provide a place of learning, nurture and renewal for another 60 years.”