ALEVEL 3 course in organic horticulture began with a powhiri for 14 students in Whanganui's Matipo St on Tuesday.
It's an initiative of the Matipo Community Development Charitable Trust, and the welcome ceremony was at the trust's community garden in the Kokohuia street.
The course will be run by Agriculture New Zealand in conjunction with the Wai Ora Christian Community Trust, Wai Ora CEO Marama Dey said.
Wai Ora has its base in Brunswick Rd, and is running a Level 2 horticulture course there this year. The Level 3 course will be run in Matipo St as a satellite. It will use the community garden and an empty Housing New Zealand house across the street as a classroom.
The Matipo trust began life three years ago, when the "visionary" late Craig Rippon and others wanted a better life for their whanau. They saw education as a key to jobs and to eventually starting their own small businesses.