The opening of the first Ten Talents shop took place on November 24, 1972 as reported in The Gisborne Herald and the Gisborne Photo News.
They leased premises on Main Street, Makaraka, where Easts is now — opposite the Roseland Tavern.
“It used to be a Four Square supermarket but there was a fire,” recalls committee member, Gail Morris.
Well-known Gisborne potter Seymour May was one of the original 10 contributors and sold his pottery there.
His wife Helen remembers helping set up the original shop — painting walls, erecting shelves and displaying a variety of crafts including flax kete, knitted soft toys and dried-flower art.
She worked as a volunteer in the shop for about three years.
“Back then we just used to open in the weekends because everyone had other jobs,” says Helen.
Another well known Gisborne craftsperson Hetty Kain was also a founding member.
Some of the talents on display in the Makaraka store included pottery, knitting, basket-making, weaving, rug making, dried-flower art, woodwork, felting, sewing and crochet.
Ten Talents Craft Centre is run as a charitable trust with proceeds going to local charities.
It works like a collective where local craftspeople supply the shop with their wares and get 75 percent of the sale price, with 25 percent going back to the trust to pay for overheads like power and rates, and to be donated to local charities.
They moved into the new premises at 35 Ormond Road, Whataupoko in the 1980s, and the shop had a makeover and major “spruce-up” four years ago. It is now a modern, well-appointed craft shop selling everything from wool for spinning and knitting, to pottery and handmade cards.
“It’s a successful business and although our systems may seem somewhat outdated, they work,” says Rexene.
“We’re quite a thriving commercial enterprise really and we sell a lot of wool.”
At the moment there are 28 volunteers who work on a roster system.
The shop is open Monday to Friday from 10am - 4pm and Saturdays from 10am - 3pm and there will always be two people rostered on for each shift.
Rexene was a teacher for 45 years and still does relief teaching at Makaraka School. She is also a talented and prolific knitter.
“I like to make blankets and kids’ jumpers and beanies but I also do quilting,” she says.
“I don’t know how people fill their days if they don’t have a hobby.”
Committee member Gail Morris is a spinner and knitter and also makes cards and does lace-making, which she learned as a child when she spent school holidays with her grandmother in Tauranga.
“She was a crafty person and that’s just what we used to do,” Gail says.
She also does all of the wool ordering which is a big part of the business.
Rexene said she noticed a resurgence in the popularity of crafting, especially when the first lockdown happened in 2020.
“We had lots of people coming in to get wool and knitting needles — they were going to learn to knit by watching tutorials on YouTube.
“I think a lot of people are getting back into making crafts.
“It’s a social thing too - you make great friendships through it.
“We’ve noticed quite a few younger people — especially young mums — coming in to buy wool and they also seem to be buying woollen garments for their children which is great.”
Rexene attends one of the many knitting groups in Gisborne which meets every Monday at Kerry’s Cafe in Lytton West.
There are about 25 knitters who get together to knit garments for charity while enjoying a good catch up and morning tea.
Once a month the Ten Talents committee, made up of seven volunteers, meets at the Ormond Road shop to do everything from payroll to stocktaking.
They then sit down for morning tea and a good natter.
They are all craftspeople. Treasurer Wendy is an expert knitter as is secretary Robyn Eccles-Smith.
Gail Morris is an excellent spinner and knitter as well as the main wool orderer.
She is part of a spinning group in Gisborne which has around 30 members.
“A lot of our volunteers are also part of the spinning group,” Gail says.
Every February the spinning group gathers at the Hika Hall for the Wool Muster.
Here they spend three days socialising while spinning, knitting or doing the craft of their choice.
“People come from Mahia and Napier for the Wool Muster — it’s very popular,” Gail says.
This year Ten Talents donated $5000 to Stroke Tairāwhiti, $5000 to Alzheimers Tairāwhiti/Gisborne and $3000 to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB).
Each year the committee chooses the organisations to receive donations.
“We tend to choose health agencies here which need the extra funding,” says Wendy.
“We want it to stay in the community and we try to spread it around.”
Last year they gave $10,000 to the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust to allow them to purchase a specialised helmet for the paramedic.
“It was great advertising for us as many people don’t realise we are a charity and donate to local causes.”
Ten Talents Craft Centre is always looking for new craftspeople and volunteers.
“People are welcome to drop in and see us, but their work needs to be of a high standard and they need to be reliable if they want to volunteer,” Rexene says.
