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2nd Dec 2023
Newsletter EFA February 2023
European Focusing Association - EFA
Dear European Focusing colleagues,
In the newsletter this month:
- New EFA Facebook page and group
- New EFA web site
- Annual Gathering Bassano del Grappa 25 – 29 October 2023
- Members’ meeting 1 March
Facebook
Sari Pekki, Yehudit First, and Ruth Hirsch have been working to create two new Facebook pages for EFA.
We are replacing our current Facebook page with two new EFA Facebook pages. The current page, ”EFA Focusing”, will be closed after a transition period. At this point, we want to warmly thank and appreciate Nikos Kipriotakis for the excellent work he has dedicated to our web presence through the website and Facebook for many years.
Why two pages? Read on.
The ‘European Focusing Association’ page
is for official announcements: The purpose of this page is to widen awareness of EFA and Focusing on Facebook. This public page offers information on the European Focusing Association and activities that EFA organizes. The content of this page will be more informative and compact so that people can easily find the information they are looking for. On this page, we will regularly share and highlight EFA newsletters, articles and other content from the EFA website and possibly other sources as well.
We invite you to like and follow the page:
ebook.cohttps://www.facm/EuropeanFocusingAssociation/
and invite others who might be interested to like and follow the page as well.
The ‘European Focusing Forum’ group
is an open space for European Focusers to meet others, share ideas and experience, collaborate, get inspiration and ask questions. The group is for Focusing-related topics. Reflections, sharing, articles and quotes that promote and support self-reflection and awareness will be welcome. The group is private, which means that only members can see who’s in the group and what they post.
We invite you to join our group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/efaforum and encourage other European Focusers to join too!
It is our hope that these new pages will encourage other European Focusers to join us, allowing us to better connect and collaborate.
Web site
Amona Buechler and Dietmar Steinback have been working with web masters Patrick and Gilbert to produce a new, user-friendly web site. It is nearly ready to go live, hopefully in March.
It will be possible to put your courses and events on the web site, and there will be a membership directory, so you can be found by people who are looking for Focusing professionals. You will also be able to put articles and videos on there and engage in our EFA members discussion group.
We want to move as much content as possible from the old web site, so if you have an interest in copying and pasting the articles and videos, we would love to hear from you. The old site will still be there, and findable as ‘previous’.
2023 Gathering
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a booking for this year’s EFA gathering (annual meeting)
at Bassano del Grappa – in northern Intaly, fo r25- 29 October 2023.
Bassano del Grappa Old Town and Ponte degli Alpini bridge, Veneto province, Italy
The venue is lovely. You can see more information here: https://www.villangaransangiuseppe.it
The website is in Italian. How to activate Google Translate
THE VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE will be hosting us from Wednesday evening until Sunday lunchtime.
The Villa is located at
Via Ca’ Morosini, 41 36061 Bassano del Grappa (VI)
Tel. +39 331 418 72 84
Rooms will be booked on a first come, first served basis as rooms on the premises are limited. Please read the entire email carefully for instructions on how to book yourself in as an EFA member.
Communication platform
Once you have registered, we also encourage you to enter your name and contact info here on our communication platform so we can all stay in touch.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17uf73UKlJfIR-hy46HrAc2zqTK6QXR42WbprXMkhH6Q/edit?usp=sharing
ACCOMODATION:
In the THE VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE we have available to us
- 9 single rooms with private bathroom at a cost of €45 a night
- 8 double rooms with private bathroom – at a discounted rate of €50 a night for singles
Or full double rate €70 a night for couples or two people sharing with twin beds. - 1 triple room €90,00
- + tourist tax – €2 per night for all above choices
- Breakfast included
- Our meeting room is at the villa
NEARBY HOSTEL: Ostello Bassano Del Grappa at Via Lorenzo Chini 6
The hostel is some 15 minutes or so walk away from the villa and also has the option to use a shared kitchen for those who prefer to self-cater. For people who would prefer an even more cost friendly option there are also shared dormitories at the hostel.
- 2 of these singles come with a private bathroom at €35 a night
- And 5 other single rooms which come with the use of a shared bathroom for €30 a night.
- double rooms with a private bathroom €56
- double rooms with the use of a shared bathroom €50
- + tourist tax – €2 per night for above choices
- Breakfast included
https://www.ostellobassanodelgrappa.it
This website is in English, Italian and German so easy to browse through.
MEALS:
Lunch and dinner are NOT included in the costs of the room and will need to be paid for separately when you arrive. Breakfast is included already in the costing for the rooms.
Lunch: price range to be determined, probably around Euro 16+
Dinner: Price range between Euro 20 and Euro 25 including drinks depending on the menu.
Occasionally we plan to eat out together in the old historical centre of Bassano.
ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES:
Check in from 2pm on Wednesday afternoon with a shared dinner on the premises at 6pm. We will meet as a group at 7.30pm
We will close our meeting at 1pm on Sunday, followed by lunch at the venue.
For anyone who wants to arrive earlier and/or stay on longer you can arrange it yourself at the time of booking, or potentially added on later if availability allows.
GETTING TO THE VENUE or HOSTEL:
Bassano del Grappa is reachable by train.
Use trenitalia.com to check train times from wherever you are coming. You can book online through this website or buy your ticket at the ticket office.
Another good site is Trainline.com. This platform searches through various European train- and bus-services.
For those planning to fly, the closest airport is Venice Marco Polo airport.
On: https://www.atvo.it/en-ticketonline.html select:
Departure from “Venice Airport (Marco Polo) to all destinations” then select:
Da/From: Aero Porto Marco Polo (VCE)
and A/To: Mestre Stazione SS.FF.
Euro 8 one-way, Euro 15 both ways
Once in Mestre take the train to Bassano del Grappa trenitalia.com
To VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE at Via Ca’ Morosini, 41
By foot: 20 to 25 minutes from the train station/bus.
By Taxi: 0039 (0)424567774
The cost from the train station to both Bassano del Grappa to the Villa Angaran San and to the Hostel Ostello Bassano Del Grappa, Via Chini, 6 is between €7 and €9.
To Ostello Bassano Del Grappa at Via Lorenzo Chini 6:
By foot: From Bassano train station / bus: 1.4 km, 17 minutes.
TO REGISTER and BOOK your accommodation:
We have a special price for members of our group that you won’t get if you book online.
Please include your name,
that you are coming for the European Focusing Association meeting 25 – 29 October 2023
and your choice of room and exactly how many nights you will stay.
Please book either the hotel or the hostel with: prenotazioni@villangaransangiuseppe.it
Either Paolo or one of his colleagues will respond by email.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure to CC efa@legacy.efa-focusing.eu
so that we know you are coming.
PAYMENT:
Accommodation and Meals:
To be paid directly to the hotel by each participant.
For the Meeting Room:
We have calculated everybody’s contributions for the cost of the two meeting rooms based on an estimated minimum number of 20 participants. Please expect to pay €65 Euro in addition to the cost of your bedroom. We will collect this money when we are there. If there are more than 20 participants, we can either collect less or use the additional amount for other EFA projects, such as the website.
EFA gathering communication platform
We now have an active communication platform, where you can see who is coming and let people know that you will join. You can see what ideas already exist, and you can post your envisioned workshop, wishes and discussion ideas; and connect for travel plans, etc.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17uf73UKlJfIR-hy46HrAc2zqTK6QXR42WbprXMkhH6Q/edit?usp=sharing
Looking forward to meeting with as many of you as can come.
Monthly meetings
The monthly Members meetings are continuing on the 1st of every month, at 7pm – 8pm CET. The next meeting is on Wednesday 1 March.
The format of this group is appreciated by the attendees. We have an attunement at the beginning, and then see what emerges from that. It’s an open, heart-felt space. Everyone is welcome. If you want to come to the meeting for the first time, please let Fiona know and she will send you the link.
Warmly,
on behalf of the Steering group
Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig, Ria van Hage
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