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4 Tuesday <strong>December</strong> <strong>19</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
News<br />
Mural brings Mairehau alive<br />
Pupils inspire<br />
Innes Rd art<br />
• By Julia Evans<br />
A DRAB wall in Mairehau<br />
has come to life with colourful<br />
artwork – an idea sparked<br />
entirely by local children.<br />
When asked what was<br />
wrong with their community,<br />
Mairehau Primary School pupils<br />
said the area needed more<br />
colour.<br />
So Richard ‘Popx’ Baker was<br />
enlisted to paint a mural on a<br />
wall between the school and<br />
Innes Rd.<br />
The Neighbourhood Trust<br />
and Child and Youth Friendly<br />
Cities organised the artwork,<br />
which features Mairehau pupils<br />
planting a garden.<br />
Trust manager Ginny Larsen<br />
said it has been a great result<br />
from a collaborative effort.<br />
“The project started two-anda-half<br />
years ago when the trust<br />
was working with children from<br />
Mairehau Primary asking them<br />
what they liked about the area,<br />
what they didn’t like and what<br />
they would like to change,” she<br />
said.<br />
One of the main themes was<br />
that the pupils found Mairehau<br />
a “bit grey” and wanted “more<br />
LIKE BANKSY: George Croton, teacher Alice McGinty,<br />
Luseane Alexander, Chelsea Radcliffe and Amy Scott in front<br />
of the mural on Innes Rd. PHOTO: GILBERT WEALLEANS<br />
colour and vibrancy” in the<br />
area.<br />
The pupils took photos and<br />
made up a board of ideas.<br />
“One of the things they<br />
suggested was a mural,” Ms<br />
Larsen said.<br />
But the trust quickly hit a<br />
road block.<br />
Said Ms Larsen: “We thought<br />
this would be lovely but we’ve<br />
got no money.”<br />
That’s when Child and Youth<br />
Friendly Cities came on board.<br />
Ms Larsen said the group<br />
really liked the fact that it was<br />
the voices and ideas of local<br />
children being heard.<br />
Many large-scale murals by<br />
Baker feature across the city.<br />
They include a building<br />
at Phillipstown School through<br />
to the “wall of love” in New<br />
Brighton.<br />
Community steps<br />
up to give couple<br />
dream wedding<br />
•From page 1<br />
Said Miss Van de Loo: “I<br />
thought maybe someone has<br />
bought fairy lights for Christmas<br />
and were not using them.”<br />
Within an hour, more than 100<br />
people had offered help, including<br />
photography, decorations,<br />
wedding vehicles, a wedding<br />
cake, suits and a wedding dress,<br />
make-up, hair, a spray tan,<br />
pounamu necklaces, help to set<br />
up, and the use of Richmond’s<br />
Avebury House.<br />
They will now get married<br />
there on January 20.<br />
“We were just blown away<br />
with the response. We feel like<br />
we’ve won the Lotto. It’s practically<br />
a dream come true; I’m still<br />
speechless,” she said.<br />
The couple, who met as teenagers,<br />
moved to North New Brighton<br />
with their children Millie, 5,<br />
and Luke, 3, six months ago.<br />
“It’s amazing, I love how everyone<br />
bands together,” Miss Van de<br />
Loo said.<br />
“Within a month I would<br />
walk down the street and people<br />
would say hi. It’s just little<br />
things like that. We’ve never<br />
PEGASUS POST<br />
had that before.”<br />
Miss Van de Loo said Millie<br />
was disappointed her parents<br />
may not have had the big wedding<br />
they hoped for.<br />
“She was quite sad, even I was<br />
sad, but that was what was important<br />
to us at the time.”<br />
Now they do not have to worry<br />
about organising the wedding,<br />
they can spend more time supporting<br />
Mitchell.<br />
“It could well have been his last<br />
Christmas. He could have a heart<br />
attack at any time,” Miss Van de<br />
Loo said.<br />
Millie would be her maid of<br />
honour, while Luke would be Mr<br />
Thoms’ best man.<br />
Mitchell is one of four New<br />
Zealanders to have Takayasu arteritis,<br />
which most commonly<br />
affects Asians and women.<br />
It has damaged his heart so<br />
much so that it is only working<br />
at 28 per cent, Miss Van de Loo<br />
said.<br />
The future Mr and Mrs Thoms<br />
are already thinking about paying<br />
it forward, with a surprise<br />
planned after they tie the knot for<br />
those who had offered help.<br />
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