Everyday is neighbour day
Whilst living with COVID in the community is the new normal, hopefully the fear of the unknown has subsided. There was a plus side to the pandemic as well. We did get to experience a sense of community caring and connectedness and had a bit more time to spend with our friends, especially outdoors.
If you’d like to get back in touch with your neighbours, or meet some new ones Neighbour Day on the last Sunday in March, the 26th, might be just the excuse you’ve been looking for.
“Create Belonging” is the theme, and as we’ve experienced over the past few years well-connected neighbourhoods are better equipped to face and recover from emergencies and natural disasters.
The benefits of belonging extend beyond those who feel newly included. Having diverse relationships improves everyone’s relationship satisfaction, mental health and wellbeing.
On the Neighbour Day website there are ideas for simple gatherings, invitation cards, posters, calling cards, conversation cards and all sorts of information to make a simple event successful.
Neighbour Day has been running for 20 years with its aim to connect neighbours in an annual celebration of respectful relationships and strong communities.
One thing that’s become glaringly obvious over the past few years is that social connection counts. It’s a part of who we are as a social animal and as a caring community.
This year it’s possible to actually get out and meet your neighbours, with COVID safety in mind, and from all the ‘For Sale’ and ‘Sold’ signs that have been in abundance there’s probably a lot of new neighbours to meet.
We have so many wonderful spaces that lend themselves to community meeting places, fantastic foreshore reserves dotted around the community for catching up and connecting with neighbours, wide grassy verges and dead-end streets. A map is on the website
It’s easy to organise a meet-up, grab a pen or printer and send out an invitation to your neighbours to have a cuppa by the kerb (bring your own cuppa and snack - and meet in your street!), maybe a morning tea, afternoon tea or shared plate/ potluck event, or maybe a wellness walk in one of our local parks or around the neighbourhood.
There’s lots of ideas at https://neighbourday.org/get-involved/individuals-and-hosts/
And lots of local places to explore at https://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/map-of.html
Everyday is neighbour day
