Simon Thwaites – a man with a passion to help our Kura
Simon Thwaites, entrepreneur and owner of Silver Skies has been a Foundation Trustee since our inception in early 2019.
He was invited to join the Foundation by Teacher Representative at the time, Richard Jolly.
From the minute Simon joined us, he added a real spark to our meetings. Having no prior connection to our kura, some wondered what would interest him at our meetings. There was no cause for concern, Simon was as committed as any alumnus to our cause and actively found ways to bring in money to the Foundation in order to support our students’ learning.
Simon came to us having retired early after selling his successful business Silvermoon, a chain of jewellery shops specialising in silver jewellery. It was of great value to the Foundation to have such an entrepreneurial person on our Trust as most of us do not have a financial or business background. Simon did many things while on the Trust including organising the campaign to raise funds towards costs associated with the new school buildings at Te Aratai and was particularly passionate about securing gym facilities for the school.
Fortunately for Simon but unfortunately for the Foundation an opportunity came up for him to buy back his old business Silvermoon Jewellery earlier this year from the liquidators. In just a few months he has opened three new stores and is continuing to open further shops around the country. Simon is now too busy to stay on the Trust but he is keen to maintain his links with the Foundation, and is happy to help Te Aratai in a less formal way should the opportunity arise.
It is very sad to see Simon leave our Trust table but we are very grateful for his wonderful contribution to our organisation while he was available. We wish Simon and Silvermoon Mark II well and thank him very much for all his many contributions to the Linwood Te Aratai Foundation.