Raglan’s Bryant Retreat celebrated 50 years of providing time out for women from the Waikato. At an afternoon tea function, invited guests were welcomed by Doug Arcus, Chair of the D.V. Bryant Trust. Mr Arcus outlined how the trust and then the retreat was established by the work of his grandfather Dan Bryant.
Identifying a need for rural women to have some time out, in the 1950s Dan introduced the Bryant House Hospitality Scheme, which allowed women to have a break at his children’s Convalescent Home in Raglan over the winter months whilst the children weren’t in residence. In 1955 the Bryant House Trust Board purchased a house in Cliff Street Raglan to run as a Women’s Rest Home. Nine years later the DV Bryant Trust opened a new purpose-built Rest Home for Women on the corner of Cliff and James Streets, overlooking the inner Raglan Harbour. In 2003 the Rest Home was renamed the Bryant Retreat.
Fifty years after its’ opening the Retreat continues today. Applications are welcomed from urban and rural women living in the Waikato and King Country regions. The Retreat is managed by Barbara Brown and her six staff. Their aim is to make sure every guest’s stay is relaxed and comfortable.
It can accommodate up to six women at a time, each in their own room for a usual stay of 11 nights. Access is by way of a General Practitioner (GP) referral and, should they be accepted, guests stay courtesy of the DV Bryant Trust. The only cost for a guest over and above the GP’s fee is for travelling to and from Raglan. For more information visit http://www.bryanttrust.co.nz/14/bryant-retreat