Whanganui resident and lifelong learner Judith Robinson was recognised with a lifelong learning award presented by Community Education Whanganui (CEW) at a special event held during the Festival of Adult Learning Ahurei Ākonga in September 2023. Judith has lived in Whanganui since 2007 and during that time has continued with her lifelong learning journey, taking up watercolours, clay, needle-felting, and ukulele. All this follows on from a life spent teaching both in Aotearoa and the UK where she taught geography at a girls’ grammar school before tutoring at a residential field studies centre.

Judith’s award was for her participation in the “Anything Instrument Goes Band – “A.I.G.B”” – a CEW course tutored by Bruce Jellyman from 2011 – 2022, and now tutored by Tracy Wilson, who has renamed the course “Bandemonium”. Judith has been playing in the orchestra since 2011, first as a violinist, but as her fingers have stiffened, she recently moved to the glockenspiel.

According to Community Education Whanganui (CEW) Manager Mel Shaw, Judith is an inspiration.

“Judith has enjoyed a rich and multi-faceted life and continues to embrace new challenges and learning. She truly is the embodiment of the ideal lifelong learner.”

Congratulations on the award and a full life of shared learning.