Quietly the people of Appin Hall go about their business seeking to improve the lives of young people that have been affected by disadvantage and illness.
Appin Hall is not a religious affiliated centre, nor is it some kind of new age centre, instead it seeks to help young people through the display of old fashioned values.
Appin Hall takes its name from a coastal rural part of Argyll in Scotland. Argyll’s castle Stalker was the home of the Stewarts. Maggie, Ronnie’s wife is a Stewart. The Stalker in the Castle title is from the gaelic ‘Stalcaire’ which means falconer. Falconry was a sport of which King James was fond.
It’s not too difficult to draw a parallel between the soaring falcons of Stalker castle and the soaring spirits of Appin Hall. Giving people ‘wings’, the skill and confidence to follow their dreams is all part of what Appin Hall offers a young person that needs encouragement.
Entertainer Robbie Burns runs Appin Hall with his wife Maggie, and they are a powerhouse couple using their skills of music, dance and the other arts to uplift the lives of children who need encouragement.
Ronnie Burns initially chose Tasmania as a peaceful and perfect place for retirement. Ronnie had many happy memories of tours in Tassie, Launceston, Smithton, Queenstown etc. Also creating and producing a program called ‘prophecy and prediction’ caused Ronnie to think deeply about the state of the world, how we were not treating it as we should and the repercussions climate wise with the future fear of availability of clean water and other resources Ronnie and his wife Maggie chose to move to a place which epitomised a clean and green island life lived at a less frantic pace.
It wasn’t until later that Ronnie and Maggie realised such an environment would be a superb healing one for disadvantaged and sick children. Thoughts of retirement were thrown out of the window as the couple’s dreams of a respite centre that would seek to cleanse the spirits and emotions of children suffering from illness, trauma or disadvantage and set them on a path to healing, health and hope.
Ronnie dreams for his village started to come to light; a sustainable community that produced its own food and allowed the ‘technology overloaded’ a chance to get back to nature and appreciate the real things of life. Of course children arrived at Appin hall clinging to their mobile phones and other gadgets of modern communication but Ronnie didn’t confiscate them or lay down rules banning their use but instead engaged the children in becoming part of a much more traditional community. They learned to plant and harvest their food. To churn butter and while doing all these ‘real’ non cyber activities too Ronnie found that they became less needy of the technology and although they might still check their emails it was to a lesser extent than before and it was replaced by the richer rewards of sitting around and watching a movie together and talking not texting.
The children that come to the centre are 90 per cent from Tasmania. They’re brought here mainly through word of mouth. Ronnie regularly attends organisations like rotary who may suggest a young person to attend and also organisations like Canteen and Camp Quality get in touch for their clients to gain some respite. The children are always accompanied by a parent, social worker or medical staff.
Appin Hall is not government funded but gets funding and support from Kentish council. There is a once yearly concert. This year ‘Celebrate the Child’ will take place in Burnie Town Hall on 17th September.
Starring:
Roy Orbison Tribute – Athol Matcham
David De Vito
Cameron and Taylor Henderson
Ronnie Burns
Leah Woodberry
Reflexions Dance Studio Dancers
Hosts:
Brett Whiteley
Alex Fevola
Ronnie and Maggie are to be applauded, as they have been for their performing careers, but now even more so for the wonderful work they are doing to encourage and enhance young people’s lives.
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