Old Year's Night 2024/25
Reports and photos from Kelly Green, Lynette Green, Philip Kendall and James Glass
Old Year's Night on Tristan da Cunha was marked by a blend of sorrow and celebration. On the day before, the island lost a beloved elder, Aunt Trina Lavarello, whose passing left the community mourning.
Her funeral took place on New Year's Eve morning at 10 o'clock, with family and friends coming together to honour her life. Despite their grief, Aunt Trina's family expressed a heartfelt wish for the island's celebrations to continue, as she would have wanted.
Okalolies pictured with Lynette Green and baby Oscar.
The afternoon saw the Okalolies roaming the village in their colourful costumes, delighting residents with their traditional antics and playful "weddings". Although they started their rounds later than usual, their presence brought smiles and laughter to the community.
Children playing on the Residency lawn at the Admin's Old Year's Night reception
People gathering at the Residency for the Admin's reception.
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| Above: Ladies serving at the drinks table. | |
| Left: Okalolies arriving up the Residency garden path. |
Philip Kendall poses with the Okalolies at his Old Year's Night reception.
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| Okalolies and islanders listening to the Admin's speech. | The Admin giving his speech. |
In the evening, residents gathered at the Administrator's residence for a reception. Administrator Philip Kendall delivered a poignant speech, reflecting on the sadness of Aunt Trina's passing, while also sharing updates on the island's progress and hopes for 2025.
Administrator's Speech
Welcome to Old Year's Night!
Today has been overshadowed by the fact that Aunt Trina passed away yesterday and was laid to rest earlier today. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, who kindly gave their blessing to continue with this reception tonight.
I cannot believe that 2024 is over already! It seems like only yesterday that the Okalolies first kidnapped Louise and took her to Prince Philip Hall. I am relieved that she wasn't kidnapped today as it's costing me a fortune in ransom payments!
Time certainly does move quickly on Tristan, but it's probably also a reflection of the amount of work that we have all achieved this year. I have been fortunate enough to visit Nightingale twice, and Gough for a week in March. Louise and I also visited St Helena in April, but so far, Inaccessible has remained inaccessible to me!
We started the year with a bumper cruise ship season – the best yet! Kelly, Iris and their teams together with Connie and the immigration team ensured that the cruise ship passengers had memorable and safe visits, and above all, spent loads of money! Thanks to you all.
The Council has been working extremely hard behind the scenes this year. Their work has involved seeking a better deal for islanders, including assessing applications to run the next lobster concession whilst representing the views of the community. More of that later. James and I both spent some time off island, representing Tristan at various meetings and events, putting forward the views of the Council and islanders. During our respective visits to the UK James met His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary. I met Trevor in Lowestoft!
Trevor was in Lowestoft with our Young Ocean Champions where they learnt new skills which will enable them to continue the good work of the Conservation Team, protecting and preserving our pristine ocean and fishery well into the future. Thank you Trevor for this great initiative.
The work of the Conservation team, the Fisheries Department and Janine as our Atlantic Guardian, is crucial in keeping the fisheries healthy and profitable.
One area where we have been able to achieve a better deal for islanders, with the help of Lorraine and the Finance Team, is a substantial increase to the weekly pension to £45! Thank you Lorraine.
As the population of Tristan ages, the pensioners are an increasingly large part of the community and the economy. Many pensioners are still very active, working in roles in the factory and across Government.
When Chief Finance Officer Paul returns to the island in February, I will be working with him to improve salaries to ensure that those who work hard are well rewarded. It is important to me that everyone's hard work is recognised.
Talking of hard work, the staff at the hospital have had a tough year. The excellent doctors and nurses see people when they are at their most vulnerable. They do their best to heal those who can be healed, and support those when they need it most. The quality of our hospital and healthcare is also recognised by passing vessels, as we saw recently. To the doctors and nurses, I say thank you!
This year Neil retired after many successful years heading up the Agriculture Department. Nat, Luke and Anne arrived in September from Yorkshire and have already started implementing new ideas and bringing in expertise. We also welcomed the arrival of six new rams from South Africa. We hope that these rams will give us good results in the coming months as we introduce them to Tristan's ewe population. Thank you to Neil for all your service, and welcome Nat, Luke and Anne. I look forward to seeing your many ideas develop over the coming year. Thanks too to Luke for cutting the grass ahead of tonight's event.
This year has seen big changes in Telecommunications too. Andy retired and was replaced by Starlink! The result has been a game changer for the island.
But joking aside, we are now able to have uninterrupted video calls, access to better education resources at the school and telehealth opportunities at the hospital. Not to mention Netflix, YouTube and gaming! This was an amazing effort by Simon and his team. Thanks to everyone for making it happen, and helping me achieve my target of getting better internet on Tristan. Thanks too to Andy for your years of service. I am very pleased that he has agreed to stay on to man Tristan Radio.
The school has benefitted enormously from the improved connectivity with the outside world. The internet is now beamed through projectors into each classroom, where lessons can be streamed from educational sources which complement the teaching from the excellent teachers, and is proving to be a big hit with students. This also opens up lessons on subjects which have not been available until now, such as languages. Thank you to the teachers for embracing the new technology and everything you do for our young islanders.
Whilst I was off island earlier this year, PWD finished my garage - thank you Jonathan - and Joanne moved into her new stores, Tristan's answer to DIY Depot. Congratulations Joanne.
So What Next?
PWD together with E&P and Mechanical are keeping the wheels of the island turning, the lights on and the toilets flushing, but a lot of the infrastructure needs upgrading, so I will be working with the UK Government to find solutions, and money. First of all, in January, a team will be arriving from South Africa to upgrade the electrical infrastructure, rewire some critical buildings and begin to install solar panels.
This will begin to provide the island with enough electricity to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We will still need some gas and diesel, but if we can reduce the amount we ship onto the island it will save money, make us more self-reliant and be environmentally friendly.
The coming year is election year on Tristan with elections for the Council and Chief Islander in March. Both the current Council and the new one will be busy in the coming months, negotiating the new Concession agreement for the lobster fishery, helping me to take forward new projects and representing the views of each and every islander.
2024 was a good year for Tristan and I expect 2025 to be even better, thanks to everyone's hard work.
Thank you once again for coming, and thanks to Seven Seas and others for this amazing spread of food. And now, enjoy the rest of the party, and may Louise and I wish you all a healthy, happy and peaceful 2025!
Okalolies taking a well-earned rest behind the Residency before moving on to the Chief Islander's reception.
Chief Islander's Reception
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| Chief Islander James Glass's speech at his reception in Prince Philip Hall. | James's wife Felicity with the Okalolies by flagpole at James's reception. |
The celebrations then moved to Prince Philip Hall, where Chief Islander James Glass and his wife, Felicity, hosted a second reception. Chief James Glass delivered a moving and uplifting speech, which resonated with the community and set a positive tone for the year ahead.
Chief Islander's Speech
I would just like to welcome everyone here tonight, as we prepare for the coming of a New Year.
This year has been a very sad one for many with six deaths, one being buried today, and I wish to thank the family of Trina, for endorsing us to have this reception tonight. We also remember Michael Swales who passed just recently and was a great supporter of the Tristan Community. I did send a message of condolences to his daughter and will send something again when they have his funeral.
Our small community is faced with an ongoing challenge of chronic ailments with a large number of our Islanders on chronic medications. The burden may become unbearable on the part of the individuals, their families, our community and the Government, hence the need to address and harness the challenge now.
The cost of living has always been a concern of mine and the council, especially with the latest increase in freight rates, and I am happy that the pension this year was doubled. However we should be careful not to increase the pension too much, because if the pensioners stop working especially at the factory then the island is F... I will leave the last word for your own imagination.
There is also scope to increase Government wages by at least 20% from the endowment fund, but I will leave that up to the new Council. I would also urge young people to take responsibility and become Chief Islander or councillors, in this year's election, because it's important that you shape your own future.
The pensioners maybe wondering where we are with the funds from the sale of David Wilson yacht. In order not to lose maybe a quarter of the funds, we are trying to set up a charity on Tristan, and sent the request to St Helena in October. We are still waiting their response. We will chase this again once back to work.
At the JMC in London, I had several meetings including a private meeting with the FCDO's deputy director for the OTs, Adam Pile:
Regarding possible future capital projects (incl. Tristan House, roads/drainage, vehicle shed, island store etc), Adam was broadly supportive, but stressed it's up to TdC Gov to help cost them, put them in priority order and facilitate their delivery. So it's up to the HOD's to step-up and take this forward.
I raise the issue of the rifles to provide subsidies for rifle replacement to boost safety, and the ongoing difficulties for Tristanians who want to open accounts with UK banks. On the hunting rifles, I went and looked at some in Cape Town, and have given all the details to Conrad, who is now taking the lead on that.
Gibraltar mentioned that they have an excess of qualified teachers, and offered to help OT's with those as well as police officers if needed. We could certainly do with teacher support.
As you all know we have chosen to go with a new company (to be publicly announced once the agreement has been signed). They will operate out of Cape Town, although I think they may also be interested in joining the South Atlantic territories closer together. However, until the contract is signed anything can happen, but the lawyers will be working hard with us, starting on the week of the 13th when we return back to work. I have also been told that they will be interested in recruiting many of Ovenstones staff, so despite the change of company, we may still see many familiar faces.
Ovenstones still have until the 31st Dec 2026, and I hope they will make the transition smoothly. They have managed the lobster resource extremely well. However comfort on their vessels and the length of the voyages have had an effect on the community, with many of the elderly after operations having to sleep with the mattress on the floor from CT to Tristan. I intend to do my utmost to ensure with the new company, this will be a thing of the past.
In respect of what happens, above all, we should resolve to enter 2025 with a refreshed view of the changes and opportunities on the horizon. By working together, being more respectful to each other, building skills and being positive about our abilities, I am certain we can find a better, smoother future for our island.
Finally, I would like to wish you all and your families a Happy and Blessed New Year, from Felicity and myself, and as I have reiterated in the past, let's all try to be more tolerant with each other in the New Year. Enjoy! Thank You!
Ringing in the New Year
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| Above and below: Ringing the New Year in at the Fishing Dong at midnight. | |
As midnight approached, islanders assembled at the gong, a cherished tradition, ringing it alongside the church bell to welcome the New Year. The night concluded with a mix of remembrance and hope, as everyone prepared for a joyous New Year's lunch the following day, blessed by stunning weather.