Mid-Winter Christmas Dinner at Bridge Court June 2017

Our vision at Friends of the Farm is to be a caring, connected, wastewise community so it’s important to ensure that our elderly don’t get left out when it comes to planning events in the community. On 24 June we hosted another successful Mid-Winter Christmas Dinner for the residents at Bridge Court, the local Housing for the Elderly complex.  Our members were kept busy during the preceding weeks getting the food together to put on a roast dinner for 30 people. Invitations were delivered to all the units and followed up with phones calls.

Doors opened at 2.30pm sharp and there was a steady flow of residents.  We started with afternoon tea and games and there was lots of chatter and laughter as people learned new games and got to know neighbours that they’d never actually talked to before.  With 72 units, residents generally only know those in their own block but not from the wider complex. Kaumatua Hauraki Ngawaka, who opened the event with a welcome and karakia, made mention of this and thanked Friends of the Farm for providing this opportunity.

Food was in abundance and there was very little left over from the menu of; roast pork, chicken, ham, roast potatoes, peas, apple sauce and gravy.  Dessert was Christmas cake, apple crumble and pie, custard, cream, yoghurt and fruit salad. Five meals were delivered to units for those who had replied but were not able to attend due to health issues.  They were so appreciative to have been thought of. 

We have numerous people to thank for their generosity in providing items for the meal, including; Andrew Giarn, Fresh Choice, for three cooked chickens, custard, cream and Cadbury’s Favourites; Hun at the Village Butchery who donated the leg of pork which Denise cooked; Brandon from Brandy’s Roasts who gave us a good discount on 70 roast potatoes; Gary, owner of the $5 Deli who gave us a ham at cost and delivered it to the Sunday Market for us to pick up, Donna for fruit salad, and thanks also to Sharryn who baked the lovely Christmas cake and apple crumble. Denise’s son Ellery was tops on the gravy and was a great help the night before setting up the hall with tree and lights and decorating tables - and then washed nearly all the dishes on the day!

It takes a team to put on a successful event like this and we’re thankful to all those who arrived to either help unload or reload cars, keeping food warm and serving it and helping with the clean-up at the end. We went home exhausted, but the happy smiles on the resident’s faces will make sure this event will be included in the annual Friends of the Farm planning calendar.

Written by

Denise and Carol-Anne

Family Fun at the Farm April 2017

The rainy weather forecast over the weekend didn’t stop over 100 people heading to the farm last Sunday, to enjoy a couple of hours of good old-fashioned country fun.  Enthusiastic Mangere Bridge locals and visitors gathered at the cattle yards, where the free family fun day, organised by Friends of the Farm, was based. Activities included an obstacle course, hand-spinning wool bracelets, horse riding, sheep mustering and petting baby rabbits - something for everyone!

Our aim was to create happy childhood memories in the outdoors, and several people said they were inspired to come because their children were still talking about previous events at the farm.  The obstacle course was a huge hit, with lots of children challenging themselves to go under the cargo net, over the fences and along the rope bridge six or seven times!  There were plenty of smiles and laughter and new friendships formed, and some very hot, pink faces by the end of the day.

Thanks to all the people that made the event possible: Linda for bringing along your gorgeous baby rabbits for petting; Ross from Te Awamutu, who brought the beautiful Clydesdale horses Harry and George; the Mangere Bridge Scouts for the loan of your cargo net.   And, of course, the event couldn’t have taken place without the stunning location at Ambury Farm. We always appreciate the generous support of our lovely rangers, enabling our community to spend such fun family times there.

Love Your Coast Mangere Bridge 2017

 

Friends of the Farm has teamed up with Sustainable Coastlines for the second year running, facilitating a clean-up of the whole of the Mangere Bridge foreshore.  Our clean-up last weekend coincided with other events around the Manukau Harbour; at Onehunga, Waikowhai, Cornwallis and Waiuku; and it was great to know that we were all contributing to the improved health and wellbeing of our moana.

Friends of the Farm set up base at the Mangere Boat Club again and we’re grateful to the club for generously allowing us to use their kitchen and bathroom facilities during the clean-up and for the loan of their BBQ.  Willing helpers came from our local community and further afield, with promotion of the event by Sustainable Coastlines, in addition to our usual local advertising.  

Participants were given a short safety briefing and information about the effect of rubbish on the eco-system, before spreading out along the foreshore armed with gloves and sacks.  As with all our clean-ups, the rubbish collected was a mixture of single-use items discarded at picnic and carpark areas and on our streets (cans, bottles, straws, plastic bags, nappies etc), and items that have probably been brought into the area and dumped (car parts, wire, ceremonial goods, clothing, building material). 

As the full sacks made their way back to base, we were once again amazed and shocked at how much rubbish is lurking along our foreshore.  Several people commented that they hadn’t realised how much was there until they started looking closely. In total, an unbelievable 12,000 litres of rubbish was collected by 412 volunteers from around the Manukau Harbour in one day!

While it can be disheartening to see our beautiful moana being trashed, one participant reminded us about how much things have improved since the 1950’s, when abattoir waste and raw sewerage were dumped directly into the harbour.  Thankfully, things have improved considerably since those times.

We’re very grateful to all the wonderful people who lent a hand on the weekend!  Thanks also to the people passing by who stopped to find out what we were doing and to offer their help at future events.  Together, we can continue to make this a beautiful harbour again, for all of us to enjoy.