The New Zealand Pilgrimage Trust assits visitors from New Zealand
28/06/2016
- Zonnebeke
- Source: New Zealand Pilgrimage Trust
The New Zealand Pilgrimage Trust vzw is a non-profit organisation set up in Belgium to assist New Zealand schools, groups and individuals with planning and research for visits to the Western Front battlefields. It aims to ensure that New Zealanders visiting the region can maximize their experience at sites of specific New Zealand and family interest in addition to the more general places. Its members are also involved in working with New Zealand, French and Belgian authorities in Commemorative event planning and execution as well as researching, preparing and compiling exhibitions in both Belgium and New Zealand.
The members of the board are
Freddy Declerck MNZM (Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit), former Chairman of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917;
Steven Reynaert MNZM, who is nearing the end of more than a decade working for the Messines Council; and
Martin O’Connor, a New Zealander who has been involved in Flanders Fields for a considerable number of years.
Each of the three has more than 12 years of experience in a wide range of matters relating to New Zealand on the Western Front, from services, concerts, sports matches and exhibitions through to development of battlefield walks, symposiums and guiding for VIP groups and others.
If you have a group travelling to the Western Front or simply wish to do so yourself and have questions or need advice, please feel free to contact us.
The Trust can be contacted by e-mail:
newzealandpilgrimage@gmail.com
More information can also be found on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/New-Zealand-Pilgrimage-Trust-548771541976995