PSCT IN THE NEWS
A sense of community
Alecia Rousseau
Manawatū Standard,
October 23, 2024
Children from one of Palmerston North’s most notorious streets have been treated to a free event in a bid to bring something positive to their lives.
The Pascal Street Community Trust held the event for local children on Crewe Crescent on Tuesday and organiser Chloe Masoe said it was a good way to bring people together.
With the help of other community groups, Winchester St School and the Milson Volunteer Fire Brigade, neighbourhood kids were treated to ice-creams, a sausage sizzle water fights and plenty of games.
Masoe said most of the children at the event were from Crewe Crescent and surrounding streets, and many of them came from under-privileged homes.
The trust also ran free after-school programmes at the nearby reserve, and although numbers varied they could have up to 40 children attending.
They were given help to do their homework and many were taught how to read.
“A lot of them don’t do that stuff at home.”
A young girl enjoying a spray by the firefighters’ hose told her the event had been her “best day ever”.
Masoe said this was the reason she continued working in this space and she loved seeing children thrive.
She also lived in the area and felt it was “only natural” to help her community.
“There is a need for it.”
When the trust reached out to organisations about Tuesday’s event, she said everyone was “super keen” to help.
“They didn’t hesitate ... some of these kids comes from hard backgrounds so it’s something positive for them.
“These kids are up for anything.”
She said one of the noticeable struggles was people moving in and out of the area, and older houses being pulled down.
There were several state homes in the street, and she wanted people to know despite some being torn down, the neighbourhood could still be a great place to live.
“I just love it, and I love the community ... I love the kids.”
The trust put on several free events a year, she said, including free movie nights, community gardens and its annual Christmas Party.
Palmerston North community garden puts down new roots
Janine Rankin
Manawatū Standard,
December 02, 2018
Palmerston North's re-homed community garden is not just about the vegetables.
Gardener Indra Dulal said for the largely Bhutanese group building the garden, it was as much about community spirit as produce.
He was one of a couple of dozen people working to establish new plots at Awapuni Park on Saturday after several months waiting for the city council to approve use of the reserve.
The group's original garden, set up in Crewe Cres in a neighbourhood where many refugees first settled, was sold earlier this year for housing.
"It is very important to us, not only to grow vegetables, but for people to get together and see each other and share the food."
He said the majority of the gardeners were from Bhutan, from agricultural backgrounds, and loved to grow and enjoy fresh produce.
The gardens, packed with soil and compost provided by the city council, were going in a bit late in the season for potatoes, but Dulal was optimistic there would be plenty of the favourite crops of beans by the end of summer.
Families were usually allocated between one and three plots, and there were also communal areas.
Some of the participants had their own backyard gardens, but many were in rented properties where they were not allowed to dig over the grounds.
Co-ordinator Dave Mollard said the group had spent three weekends lining up the gardens with timber edges recycled from Crewe Cres.
He said the group's members had dispersed to homes around the city, and he hoped Awapuni locals would feel welcome to join in to help look after and benefit from the gardens.
"Some of these people really need these gardens to survive, as they are on really minimal wages, and they are wonderful gardeners."
Junior Road Safety Park in Palmerston North opens to crowd of hundreds
Jono Galuszka
Stuff.co.nz
November 26, 2017
Palmerston North's budding cyclists will have plenty more time to practise before getting on the roads, after the opening of a junior road safety park in the city.
Hundreds of families turned out to the park, built on land in The Esplanade, for the official opening on Saturday morning.
The $350,000 project, a joint effort between Palmerston North City Council and Pascal St CommunityTrust, was designed for children to practice riding bikes in an environment which had all the features of an actual roadway, minus cars.
The final result is virtually identical to a roadway, complete with a roundabout, give way and stop signs, working traffic lights at a four-way intersection, and traffic islands.
The fact it looks and works like a real road should not be too surprising as Higgins, known for building many roads around New Zealand, constructed the park.
The idea was first taken to the council by Tash Collins and Allanah Radich, who have young children of their own.
Radich said it was amazing to see "so many happy, wonderful people" keen to use the park.
It had taken three-and-a-half years to get it from concept to reality, she said.
"We wanted something for our kids and all the kids here in Palmy."
Cr Karen Naylor, who is also on the Pascal St Trust, said it had taken a few years longer than anticipated to get the park completed.
"I think we will all agree it has been worth the wait.
"What we now have here is really special."
The park opening gave Palmerston North a taste of Auckland's traffic woes, with various parts gridlocked as swathes of children took to the roads on bikes, trikes and scooters.
While the majority of users demonstrated excellent knowledge of road safety, a traffic cop could have made a killing handing out tickets for dangerous overtaking, flouting give way rules, riding on the wrong side of the road and running red lights.
One young boy screamed "I'm going through a red light, I don't care" while cutting off traffic rightfully going through a green light.
A panelbeater may have also been required by the end of the day, with the odd crash inevitable at the busy opening.
Thankfully, almost everyone was wearing helmets.
The park is not just for children though, with adults able to use a station in it to pump up tyres and carry out bike adjustments.
