Open Day at Conservatoire, Support a sponsored hike by a St Cergue resident

Tomorrow Saturday 5th April it's Open Day/ Portes Ouvertes at the Conservatoire de L'Ouest Vaudois in both Nyon and Morges, from 10:00 to 16:00. This prestigious music school will be open for the public to visit to find out more about the school's courses.  Adults and children alike can learn about playing  an instrument from guitar to piano and drums. The school has its own choir and theatre group too.  There will be workshops at the Open Day for children from 3 years old and mini concerts performed by pupils at the school throughout the day. Many of the teachers at the Conservatoire speak English, so go along to find out more!

If you have never been to the conservatoire in Nyon,  it's worth visiting just to take a peek inside this lovely old building along the lake side. Also, on Sunday 6th April, there will be an afternoon concert at the Conservatoire at 17:00 called La Sauve Melodia, details here

Living in Nyon is always happy to consider submissions from readers and we are delighted to publish this short article by Diantha Terry. Diantha moved with her family to the Canton of Vaud with her family five years ago and she has written a little about living in the village of St Cergue.  Diantha is about to embark on a sponsored hike in the Himalayas to raise money for Hope for Children. If you would like to read more about the charity or to sponsor her, then read on.Diantha Terry in St Cergue I started my career as a nurse and then worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 13 years.  We moved with our children, to Switzerland in 2009 when my husband took up a position with the World Health Organisation.  We were keen to continue living in a village environment as we had done in the UK, so chose to live 30 minutes outside Geneva first in the pretty village of Genolier, near Nyon, and then in St Cergue.  St Cergue is nestled in the Jura mountains and often has snow on the ground for 4 months of the year which keep its two small ski slopes  running even at night with floodlit events.

Photo above by Diantha Terry   St Cergue in the snow We both wanted our children to feel part of the community they grew up in and so we sent them to the local Swiss schools. The state is very supportive and the children, who were 6 and 7 when they moved, received a lot of free extra tuition.  For us it was the best decision we made. They are both well settled and speak fluently in French at school and with their friends, and they are also learning German. We all love the variety of outdoor activities that living in Switzerland offers, with skiing and snow sports in the winter and hiking and the lakes to enjoy in the summer. Living in St-Cergue is a true delight as so much of the outdoors is accessible and you will often find me out walking my dogs in the Jura countryside.

Photo above - The Desalpe in St Cergue Having had such a fortunate change to our lives, by moving to Switzerland, and being very conscious of the opportunities open to us, we as a family feel it is very important to support people whose lives are not so fortunate. In 2004 I led a successful fundraising campaign in our Cambridgeshire village and the money raised enabled a number of primary schools in Sri Lanka to be re-equipped following the devastation caused by the tsunami. (My own parents made the move from Sri Lanka to the UK in the 1970’s.) This year, in April, I am undertaking a sponsored hike in the Himalayas for one week, to raise money for the UK-based charity Hope for Children.HOPE is a fantastic charity that helps orphaned, disabled, poor and exploited children across Asia, Africa and Europe.  If you would like to be part of giving something more to children who have less, please visit my fund-raising page here.  Every donation is valuable, whatever size! My target was to raise £2000 and I’m almost there.

 Photo above - Diantha Terry