Zara Delaney, 13, left, Elijah Tauelima, 16 and Faith Elu, 14 have all benefited from a Norcross Falls Heritage Trust scholarship.

 

These students are just a select few who have been given a helping hand to make the costs of schooling less of a burden on their families.

The Norcross Falls Heritage Trust awarded 30 $500 scholarships to four secondary schools and two intermediate schools in west Auckland to help children from families who may be struggling to pay extra educational costs.

Waitakere College student Zara Delaney, who was a recipient of the scholarship last year, says it was “a huge help” to her family because her father is not able to work because of a head injury, making it financially difficult at times.

The scholarship goes towards costs of students’ laptops at Waitakere College.

“Technology is an important tool of their learning and supporting the cost of their education produces brighter futures for these children,” principal Mark Shanahan says.

The heritage trust owns The Falls building and the Henderson Rail Station, both built in the mid-1800s.

The trust also owns St Michael’s Church, also in Henderson. These three buildings were all restored by the trust and it earns income from them.

The Falls Hotel is a two story Kauri building, built in 1854 by “Long John” McLeod, a mill manager for Thomas Henderson, the founder of Henderson.

It was built to provide accommodation for the workers at Henderson Mill. The original hotel had 22 rooms, a small general store and handled local mail.

The Norcross family took on the property in 1978. A previous owner Steve Ozich stayed in the building until his death in 1991.

The Norcross family gifted the building to the community in 1996. In 1997, under the trust, Henry Norcross completed renovations to the hotel.

The Falls Hotel reopened for business in June 1998. It is now a café, function centre and restaurant.

For the past two years, the trust has not found any other historical restoration to undertake in west Auckland and has gifted its excess funds each year to local Henderson charities.