A brighter future for Glen Innes school

Leading NZ paint manufacturer, Dulux, teamed up with Auckland based charity Life Centre Trust, to help give an Auckland school an extreme makeover.

The ambitious makeover project saw hundreds of volunteers donning their overalls and picking up their paintbrushes to makeover Glen Innes’ Glenbrae Primary School – a decile one school with around 160 students that as a result of low funding, is in desperate need of maintenance to make it a safer, cleaner and more pleasant place for its students and teachers.

The massive community makeover project, the third to be carried out at a low decile Auckland school by Life Centre Trust, took place over just one day on Saturday, 6th March.

Dulux, who has been involved in the Life Centre Trust’s community make­over initiative since 2008, donated 358 litres of Dulux paint for the Glenbrae makeover, with around 20 Dulux staff helping “muck-in” on the day.

Gary Janmaat from Dulux Project Services, was among those from Dulux rolling up their sleeves to help out on the project.

Mr Janmaat, who has worked on the past two Life Centre Trust school makeovers, said he was incredibly proud to be part of a project that he said “would help make a real difference to the local Glen Innes community”.

“Without a doubt these makeovers give the schools a much needed physical face-lift. Most importantly however, they have a massive impact on the lives of the students, instilling pride in them and their school and giving them hope for their future.

“The makeovers also have a huge impact on the teachers and parents, helping show them that they are a valued part of the community.”

Mr Janmaat, who has provided specification advice to over 30 Auckland schools during his career at Dulux, says the students at Glenbrae will be “absolutely blown away” by the school’s new colour scheme.

“We wanted to create a really modern, fresh look for Glenbrae Primary, so we chose Dulux Mangakino White and Dulux Hauraki Gulf (a deep blue) as the school’s new colours.”

In addition to repainting the entire exterior of the school, the makeover saw new seating built, playgrounds repaired and extended, shade sails erected, and new drinking fountains installed.

A rotunda was built, and the school grounds were landscaped, with general maintenance and repairs also being conducted.

Mr Janmaat said that the work carried out as part of the makeover would put the school at least five to 10 years ahead in terms of their maintenance requirements.

“By carrying out this work for Glenbrae Primary, not only will they have a great looking and safe school, but they’ll be able to allocate whatever funds they have to other areas of need.

“The project is going to have a massive impact on this community, and we’re proud we are playing a part in making that happen.”