Manukau Schools Fun and Activity Days 2010 The Manukau Schools Fun and Activity Days were held at the Auckland Botanic Gardens on 18/19 March 2010. We had a fantastic response to this event and had over 960 school students attend from the following schools : Mellons Bay School, Elm Park School, Riverina School, Nga Iwi School, Clendon Park School, Mangere East Primary, Cockle Bay School, Jean Batten School, Bairds Mainfreight School, Everglade Primary School, Elim Christian School, Manukau Christian School, Mangere Bridge School, Dawson School, Anchorage Park School, Rowandale School, Howick Primary School, Roscommon School, Maraetai Beach school, Clayton Park School, Riverhills School, HillPark School, Bucklands Beach School, St John's The Evangelist School and Botany Downs School. We have had some wonderful feedback from the schools that enjoyed all the activities provided. One of the most popular activities for the students was the painting of mural tiles. The students were able to 'create' a colourful tile with the theme of flora and fauna. The Trust then mounted all these tiles onto boards and donated each completed board back to the individual schools to display within their school grounds. A big thank you to all the school students, teachers, parents, MBCT staff,volunteers and Murphys Buses who made this event so enjoyable. We will be running this again in 2011 and look forward to another great event. Environmental Arts Programme This programme is supported by the Ministry of Justice - Crime Prevention Unit. The aim of the programme is to achieve a measurable reduction in graffiti-vandalism re-offending by young offenders in the Manukau area. Each programme runs for 10-12 weeks (6 hours per week) and the participants are tutored in hard landscape design, scale model building in a classroom environment and then continue with metal and woodwork tutoring in a fully equipped workshop. Each student is required to complete individual assignments and then work together as a group to plan, design and complete a landscaping/carpentry project. They will be evaluated during and at the completion of the programme and actively encouraged to secure opportunities for long term employment. Our first course commenced on 3 September 2008 and has been hugely successful. The students have designed and created a new landscaped area at the Clendon Police Station and also constructed a fence at the Trust depot. They also had 'on-site' experience at construction sites where they had training in a range of construction activities. For any further information on this programme, please contact us on 269 4080. Cavendish Drive Rail Corridor Mural - February 2010 This fantastic mural was designed and created by Auckland artist- Louis Statham - it took several weeks to complete the life-like mural and certainly enhances the area.