Guest Speaker Deborah Fletcher, the Club RYLA attendee this year is Auckland based and teaches Dance.

Deborah was one of 15 delegates from Auckland and Northland who attended this years RYLA event that was conducted via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Deborah said that they broke off into smaller groups, to better connect and arranged a dinner together in Newmarket to experience some face time.

One of the highlights was a group project to form an NGO Prototype of an Online Market Place for Art and Trade services. The 5-hour project produced some high-quality work that proved very satisfying.

Deborah commented that a younger person can be demoralised by the state of the world and RYLA enabled the sharing with people experiencing the same feelings. Also sharing of past RYLA attendees their current experiences, including Brain Research and work into the community.

Students were particularly impressed with Inspirational Guest speaker Cam Calkoen, who was born with Cerebral Palsy who says his life has been “normal” for him since birth and his life would have carried on in whatever direction he chose to take.

Some quotes from Cam:

• Life is what we make it and the values needed to achieve awesomeness are simple
• We need to believe and in doing so, leave no stone unturned. My offerings help you identify these unturned stones
• In other words, I inspire others to dream big and achieve more!

Deborah said the Group will continue to arrange outings together in the future.

Peter Garnett presented Deborah with a RYLA certificate and reminded her that she was now a member of the RYLA International Alumni and could take advantage of connecting with RYLA Alumni worldwide.

Creating a Thriving One Tree Hill Habitat.

Guest Speaker Iain Hook has a background in Sales and Marketing updated Members on recent and activities of the Maungakiekie Songbird Trust creation of a thriving One Tree Hill habitat.

Iain who lives locally noticed a decline of birdlife over past years, which he suspected was from combination of pests and reducing habitat

His idea was to establish a halo around Parks and to mobilise the community into enhancing the habitat – “ Bring back the songbirds”.

Iain’s first action was to meet and discuss the concept with the two parks administrators, as their buy-in was and is important.

Cornwall Park Trust Board manages and operates Cornwall Park while the Maungakiekie and One Tree Hill domain is managed by Tūpuna Maunga Authority.

Iain formulated a six-step Business Plan which was socialised to interested parties such as funders. Seed funding was going to be required to provide the free resources to residents in the halo area. A variety of applications were successfully made (and we gratefully acknowledge their support).

• Auckland Council Community grant program 2020
• DOC, via their annual community grants fund 2020
• The halo area overlaps two-local boards: Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board in 2020/21 and Albert-Eden Local Board in 2021.
• The Tūpuna Maunga Authority in 2021 who look after the Ancestral Mountains

• The mid-long-term goal is to break reliance on grants and obtain commercial sponsorship, however currently with Covid this is not commercially viable.

Organisational structure:

• A Charitable Trust was established to run the project.
• The Trust name reflects positive outcome’ – not narrow focus on just pests
• Logo: incorporates an icon of One Tree Hill (made of birds). Green to be ‘environmentally friendly.
• Website: For more details visit the Trust at: https// www.maungakiekiesongbird.nz
• News updates: On local community newspapers, primarily the Onehunga Community News.
• Membership:
  • Via letterbox flyers to target “halo” residents. Five-letterbox drops have been undertaken which has resulted in approx 550 current membership base.
  • Signup by registering online and then attend a collection day in One Tree Hill to collect requested resources.
• Membership represents around 20% of eligible households in the “halo” area. This is a significant result vs other projects that are pest control focused.
• Resources: Monitoring tools & traps
• Trap Suppliers: Envirotools, a Wellington based manufacturer, was selected to supply both our rodent and Possum traps. Traps were selected for their ease of use, quality of manufacturer, value for money, and our support of a New Zealand manufacturer
• Traps: Approx 400 members have received either a rodent and/or possum trap
  • Traps provide a humane kill – certified for this.
  • February 2021: Hanging wasp trap was added to the mix
• Native trees: are being supplied and they are working with the nursey team at Cornwall Park.
• Bird feeders: are the top requested item – who doesn’t want birds in the garden ! The sugar-water bottle supports nectar feeders, such as Tui’s, while a hook on the underside of the platform allows you to hang any desired feeder to target a range of other species such as finches.