Wellington City Council has proudly supported Neighbours Day since 2012 with its focus on community resilience and growing neighbourhood social connections – but COVID challenges have seen it move away from events to smaller activities and information sharing.
Wellington City Council’s Deputy Mayor Sarah Free says the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of community.
“The COVID lockdowns and Omicron surge has shown the importance of having people to call on. This year’s theme for Neighbours Day underscores the significance of food as a way of connecting with people through growing, sharing and eating kai.
“During this pandemic many of us have become reacquainted with the joys of baking and the simple pleasures like sharing a batch of home-cooked scones. I would encourage people to take this opportunity to share a meal or a recipe.
“Neighbourhood clean-ups are another great way to connect, and a good way to lift community morale while caring for our environment and city. Following the protests, we had many offers of help to clean-up Parliament and its surrounds. Obviously we can’t all do that but we can all help with a small clean up in our local area,” she adds.
Some ways to get involved with the people in your community this Neighbours Day include:
• Share your produce and compost space and get to know your community or check out this community fruit site to share your bounty further afield too.
• Find out what’s happening at your local community centres. They do great mahi for the community including hosting events, providing resources and a reasonably priced space to rent.
• Help your neighbours out by teaching them a new skill or loaning them a tool for a small job. Sign up to use this Neighbourhood Resources Register or the Time Bank to share your time, tools and aroha.
• Right now, hosting neighbourhood events might be off the table, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t plan events for the future. Visit our Event planning and support page to find out what resources we have available for you.
Neighbours Day is a nationwide annual event that runs from Friday 18 March to Sunday 27 March this year. Visit https://www.neighboursday.org.nz for more ideas and resources.