A group of Auckland's homeless have become part-time gardeners, thanks to a collaboration involving Ngati Whatua and the city's young business leaders.

Ngati Whatua has given up part of its "whenua rangatira", the land of its chiefs around Orakei Marae at Bastion Point, for homeless people to start a vegetable garden to supply the Auckland City Mission's foodbank...

Read the full story at the New Zealand Herald website

October 2009

The Roskill South Oasis Early Years Services HUB has as its vision "Healthy Lives and Transformed Communities." They have kindly sent us this article outlining the great community strengthening work the Hub is doing.

"The centrality and availability of our premises in the heart of Roskill South enables our community to have easy access to a ‘one-stop-shop service provision'. Although our focus is primarily on families with children 0-6 years it does not stop there; we are naturally conscious of the needs of the wider family and community as well.

When we first started our HUB June last year, we gave our community the opportunity to write out ‘a wish list of the things that they wanted to see happen in our area'. Since then new initiatives have sprung up. A mum's coffee group has embraced an active music and movement programme to enhance their children's development. The Craft and Sewing class is drawing out the artistic abilities of many, while DIY & First Aid classes are bringing educational empowerment for others, not to mention the Homework club for children which has become another big bonus.

November 2009

Several community-driven initiatives were recognised at Auckland City's annual Community Safety Awards - this story from Auckland City Council:

"The Auckland City's annual Community Safety Awards evening was held on Wednesday 9 September in the concert chamber of the town hall and was a great success. The Awards ceremony has become an important event on the council calendar and gives us a great opportunity to celebrate some of the excellent work that is happening in the communities.

November 2009

In September 2009 a publication titled "Doing Difficult Things Differently", telling the story of the South East and City Primary Health Organisation, was launched at an event in Newtown, Wellington. Inspiring Communities was delighted to be a part of both facilitating the book, and attending the launch event.

As an example of true community-led development, this quote from a CEO says it all: "We are so community-driven that I know, if the community didn't want me in this role, I wouldn't be here!"

These words were said with humour, humility and total sincerity by Justine Thorpe, Chief Executive of SECPHO (South East and Central Primary Health Ordganisation) at the launch in September of a unique publication telling the SECPHO story. Doing Difficult Things Differently: the community development approach of South East and City Primary Health Organisation follows the story of SECPHO's development since its formation as a Charitable Trust in 2003.

SEPCHO is committed to providing accessible, affordable primary health care services to its populations and aims to reduce health inequalities and overcome barriers to accessing health services for Maori, Pacific, Refugee and low income peoples in its area. The non-profit PHO comprises 36 member organisations ranging from health centres and pharmacies to a vast array of social service and community support groups serving groups of different ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and those living with physical and other challenges.

Doing Difficult Things Differently is primarily a compilation of interviews with staff of SECPHO or the member organisations, and their clients in the community. Its creation was the result of collaboration between SECPHO, The Families Commission and Inspiring Communities, and was written by Frances Hancock and David Epston.

November 2009

The Community Trust of Southland is pioneering a community-led development approach to funding.

John Prendergast is Chief Executive of the Community Trust of Southland. In 2007 he was sent by the Trustees on an exploratory excursion to Canada, led by Mary-Jane Rivers of what is now Inspiring Communities (then an idea and a broad network of parties interested in or simply curious about the concept of community-led development). John admits he boarded the plane with some scepticism, unsure how community-led development was relevant from a funder's perspective.

"Before Canada I really didn't understand what community-led development meant in practice. Afterwards, as I thought about the people we'd met and what we'd seen, I realised a funder can have a pivotal role to champion the idea."

The Community Trust of Southland lost no time finding a way to apply the new way of thinking, adopting a proactive approach. The same year, community leaders of the Southland town of Mataura had received some concerning research about the health of the community, and rallied the locals to come together to do something about it. The Mataura Taskforce was born. John met with them and expressed that the Community Trust of Southland (CTOS) was keen to help and support - asserting that the ownership would always remain with Mataura and the Trust was not offering an open cheque book.

November 2009

In the December 2008 Network News we pictured a group of Lower Hutt school children meeting with the Hutt City Council to present their ideas and desires for a planned park in the suburb of Taita.

This unique and highly successful approach was instigated through Great Start Taita, a community force that has been successfully building better connections and outcomes for the Taita community since it began getting to know residents in 2007.

Fast forward to September 2009: The Great Start team were surprised and honoured to discover (only a few days before the Awards evening), that Great Start had been nominated in the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards 2009. The nomination was in the Education and Child Youth Development category, for their ongoing work with families in Taita.

October 2009

Coinciding beautifully with Neighbours Day in Auckland, Inspiring Communities was delighted to receive some research in November which demonstrated that New Zealanders are generally the kind of folk who make good neighbours and strong, resilient communities.

The Sustainable Priorities Monitor survey undertaken in February found that New Zealanders are not only good at giving; we often do it right where it is needed to build a strong community - that is, over the neighbourhood fence. Whether its five minutes of time for a friendly chat, helping out a neighbour with a practical need, or volunteering in the local community; up to 69% of respondents had given in some way in the six months before the survey.

The Sustainable Priorities Monitor is conducted by Sustainable Advantage, a research and strategy consultancy with a special area of focus on community. It aims to survey 500 - 1000 people from around the country twice each year for the Monitor.

November 2009

Have you noticed that community gardens are popping up everywhere? And so they should be!

Community gardens provide a fantastic way to grow healthy, affordable, locally produced food and to build stronger neighbourhood connections in the process. But if you wanted to start a community garden where would you go to find out how they work, what the different options are and who might be able to help you get started?

There are many regional community gardening networks now established and District Health Boards are also helping fund many school and early childhood based garden initiatives. Many local authorities have information on their websites. However in our discussions around the country, there seems to be interest in a New Zealand community gardens guide or resource that captures the essence and stories of the many different models in use and gives people some ideas, connections and tips for getting started.