Latest news with #AlexMcDonald
Scoop
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Mānuka Phuel Synthony Festival To Return In March 2026
Press Release – Duco Touring Duco Touring has today announced the date for New Zealand's biggest one-day music event Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival, returning in 2026! The festival will take place on Saturday 21 March, 2026 and will return to Auckland Domain. The 2025 event had record-breaking attendance, with the headline act SYNTHONY performing to an impressive sold-out crowd of 40,000. The $1.8 million dollar production featured 2000 working personnel plus 316 artists and performers. Following a successful double-header event this weekend at Spark Arena, with 10,000 Kiwi's attending Mānuka Phuel FULL METAL ORCHESTRA and SYNTHONY ORIGINS, Duco Touring are excited to continue to bring high-quality experiences to New Zealanders year-round. Duco Touring Founder David Higgins commented: 'After a massive turnout in 2025, and an incredible atmosphere across this weekend's events, we knew we had to bring SYNTHONY Festival back to the Domain. In 2026, we're planning to scale up every aspect, from the stage production to the artist line-up. SYNTHONY Festival will continue to be a destination event for fans nationwide.' Described as 'an enduring success' and 'enjoyable for everyone' (NZ Herald) and 'a magical farewell to summer' (RNZ) following Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival 2025, punters can expect the same unparalleled festival experience, local and international artists, world-class immersive visuals, and some of the biggest dance tracks of all time reimagined. 'Following the roaring success of last year, we're proud to once again come on board as the headline sponsor for Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival 2026,' said Alex McDonald, Co-Creator of Mānuka Phuel. 'Our partnership with SYNTHONY across multiple events in 2025 has proved to be the perfect collision of energy, sound, and culture — and embodies everything Mānuka Phuel stands for. We're proud to return in 2025 to phuel what we believe is one of the most powerful and unmissable live music experiences Auckland has to offer.' Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's CE Nick Hill says: 'We're proud to support the return of Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival in 2026. Last year's event was a phenomenal success, drawing a record-breaking crowd and creating an unforgettable experience in the heart of Auckland. It's exactly the kind of world-class, homegrown event that showcases our region's energy, creativity and love of music. We're thrilled to invest in its future on behalf of Auckland Council and can't wait to see it light up the Domain once again.' The first, stellar line-up will be revealed in early August. Presale registration is open now, with presale and general on-sale mid August.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Mānuka Phuel Synthony Festival To Return In March 2026
Duco Touring has today announced the date for New Zealand's biggest one-day music event Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival, returning in 2026! The festival will take place on Saturday 21 March, 2026 and will return to Auckland Domain. The 2025 event had record-breaking attendance, with the headline act SYNTHONY performing to an impressive sold-out crowd of 40,000. The $1.8 million dollar production featured 2000 working personnel plus 316 artists and performers. Following a successful double-header event this weekend at Spark Arena, with 10,000 Kiwi's attending Mānuka Phuel FULL METAL ORCHESTRA and SYNTHONY ORIGINS, Duco Touring are excited to continue to bring high-quality experiences to New Zealanders year-round. Duco Touring Founder David Higgins commented: 'After a massive turnout in 2025, and an incredible atmosphere across this weekend's events, we knew we had to bring SYNTHONY Festival back to the Domain. In 2026, we're planning to scale up every aspect, from the stage production to the artist line-up. SYNTHONY Festival will continue to be a destination event for fans nationwide.' Described as 'an enduring success' and 'enjoyable for everyone' (NZ Herald) and 'a magical farewell to summer' (RNZ) following Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival 2025, punters can expect the same unparalleled festival experience, local and international artists, world-class immersive visuals, and some of the biggest dance tracks of all time reimagined. 'Following the roaring success of last year, we're proud to once again come on board as the headline sponsor for Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival 2026,' said Alex McDonald, Co-Creator of Mānuka Phuel. 'Our partnership with SYNTHONY across multiple events in 2025 has proved to be the perfect collision of energy, sound, and culture — and embodies everything Mānuka Phuel stands for. We're proud to return in 2025 to phuel what we believe is one of the most powerful and unmissable live music experiences Auckland has to offer.' Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's CE Nick Hill says: 'We're proud to support the return of Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival in 2026. Last year's event was a phenomenal success, drawing a record-breaking crowd and creating an unforgettable experience in the heart of Auckland. It's exactly the kind of world-class, homegrown event that showcases our region's energy, creativity and love of music. We're thrilled to invest in its future on behalf of Auckland Council and can't wait to see it light up the Domain once again.' The first, stellar line-up will be revealed in early August. Presale registration is open now, with presale and general on-sale mid August.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
New garden in Battersea Park aims to help people with dementia
A new sanctuary garden is opening in south-west London to support people living with is designed to be an accessible space for a range of sensory and mobility needs and is located in Thrive London's garden in Battersea health partnership Thrive London has a programme where trained practitioners help people living with dementia or memory loss engage in gentle gardening activities."We look forward to welcoming people to the sanctuary garden where older visitors and people on our programmes and their carers can benefit from time in nature, therapeutic gardening and feeling part of a community," said Alex McDonald, from the organisation. Engagement with nature and gardening drives behaviours that reduce the risks of with dementia, delaying the onset, slowing the decline and reducing social isolation, according to is hoped health and social care providers will welcome the garden and the "support" it will bring to the local community. The garden also aims to help develop more professionally trained Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) practitioners by being used as a resource within Thrive's STH is "invaluable" for people with early onset dementia, said Ms McDonald, who is a Thrive STH practitioner. "Whilst people with dementia may not be able to remember their tasks, the feelings last longer than the memories," she added.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Penny's commute is 90 minutes each way. No wonder workers like her are quitting
A mismatch between where most of Sydney's care workforce lives and where they work is hampering services that support tens of thousands of vulnerable people and taking a toll on the city's economy. New research shows 71 per cent of the city's care workforce live in greater western Sydney, while at least 50 per cent of the demand for their services – including aged care, childcare and disability care – is in districts to the east of the city, especially the northern beaches. Community-based care workers spend an average of 1.5 hours in the car during each work day, while those who catch public transport to work in residential care centres spend an average of 2.3 hours commuting, research by specialist recruitment firm Orchard Talent Group shows. The challenge of long commutes is affecting workers in other frontline sectors in Sydney, including health care and emergency services. Many delivering care services are having trouble attracting suitable staff; some estimates show Australia faces a shortage of more than 100,000 workers in the aged care sector alone by 2030. The Orchard Talent Group research found travel time was the biggest reason workers leave the care sector, followed by the cost of travel (including road tolls) and a lack of available transport. Pay rates were the fourth most common reason for leaving care work despite relatively low remuneration for workers in much of the care sector. Orchard Talent Group chief executive Alex McDonald told the Committee for Sydney's recent Sydney Summit that demand for care services in Sydney's northern and eastern suburbs had doubled during the past decade. 'This hasn't been a gradual progression; this has been a rapid shift, and it's leading to some fairly significant challenges,' he said.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Penny's commute is an hour and a half each way. No wonder workers like her are quitting
A mismatch between where most of Sydney's care workforce lives and where they work is hampering services that support tens of thousands of vulnerable people and taking a toll on the city's economy. New research shows 71 per cent of the city's care workforce live in greater western Sydney, while at least 50 per cent of the demand for their services – including aged care, childcare and disability care – is in districts to the east of the city, especially the northern beaches. Community-based care workers spend an average of 1.5 hours in the car during each work day, while those who catch public transport to work in residential care centres spend an average of 2.3 hours commuting, research by specialist recruitment firm Orchard Talent Group shows. The challenge of long commutes is affecting workers in other frontline sectors in Sydney, including health care and emergency services. Many delivering care services are having trouble attracting suitable staff; some estimates show Australia faces a shortage of more than 100,000 workers in the aged care sector alone by 2030. The Orchard Talent Group research found travel time was the biggest reason workers leave the care sector, followed by the cost of travel (including road tolls) and a lack of available transport. Pay rates were the fourth most common reason for leaving care work despite relatively low remuneration for workers in much of the care sector. Orchard Talent Group chief executive Alex McDonald told the Committee for Sydney's recent Sydney Summit that demand for care services in Sydney's northern and eastern suburbs had doubled during the past decade. 'This hasn't been a gradual progression; this has been a rapid shift, and it's leading to some fairly significant challenges,' he said.
