Happyzine 2015 = exciting times ahead

Kia ora tatou, hello all

Well it’s this weekend!  Thanks to lots of wonderful participation and support from around NZ, Neighbours Day Aotearoa is looking like a busy weekend from Kaitaia to Invercargill.  We hope New Zealand’s butchers and supermarkets are well stocked up with baking supplies, sausages and tomato sauce!

*** A preparation check list – still a couple of days to…  ***

— Deliver invitations to neighbours

— Make sure plenty of kai in the house / ingredients for baking / BBQ gas bottle full!

— Put on warm friendly smile and prepare to look for the best in each other

— Have camera batteries refreshed/charged for great photos to share on Facebook.com/neighboursday

— There is still time to tell your local paper and radio station about Neighbours Day Aotearoa too!

*** Still not sure what to do? ***

Hundreds of neighbourhoods around NZ (maybe thousands) will be meeting and appreciating their neighbours this weekend in car ports, back yards, front yards, parks, twilight walks for Earth Hour… see the website for all the latest ideas and send us yours if haven’t signed up yet!

*** Friday morning watch TVNZ’s Breakfast with Tamati Coffey  ***
Tamati is going to pop in on a Neighbours Day breakfast in Auckland to share the fun with the whole country – awesome stuff!

*** Other media coverage ***
Already around 30 newspapers radio stations right throughout the country have helped spread the word – special thanks to the Dunedin Star and Napier Mail for huge support.  Also great to see the Christchurch Press this week: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/4796565/Quake-neighbour-love

And there’s more upcoming coverage to look  and listen out for:
— Friday night on National Radio Bryan Crump will be talking about Neighbours Day Aotearoa around 7:25pm
— The Dominion Post is planning a feature article for this weekend

The media is really interested so do take photos of your fun with your neighbours over the weekend and share them at facebook.com/neighboursday and/or your local paper  (do ask your neighbour’s before publishing pics of them).

*** Need a cup of sugar? ***
Until 4pm today you can bid on one at Trade Me and help Neighbours Day Aotearoa to raise $$ for Christchurch. (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Food-beverage/Other/auction-363555168.htm)

— In the international Philips Liveable Cities Awards for which voting closes this week, the two projects receiving most votes – by far – are about neighbourhood (http://www.because.philips.com/livable-cities-award/).

Finally, one more huge thanks to you all for being great neighbours, especially this weekend, and for helping make this inaugural Neighbours Day Aotearoa a huge success.  What a difference we are making together, in our own neighbourhoods and as a nation!

Noho ora mai

The Neighbours Day Aotearoa team

See you on Facebook.com/neighboursday and Twitter.com/neighboursday

The Neighbours Day Aotearoa Development Team is a partnership between LIFEWISE, Inspiring Communities and Methodist Mission Aotearoa.

www.neighboursday.org.nz

Tags: neighbours