A Winter Veggies workshop with Dr Compost in the LINK Community Gardens at the Hub is set for Thursday, March 25.

LINK Upper Clutha is hosting four free events over four days at the end of March to celebrate Neighbours Day Aotearoa. 

Held from March 20-30 annually, the nationwide Neighbours Day Aotearoa initiative encourages community building across New Zealand by celebrating the connection that happens across the fence or along the street. 

From Tuesday March 23 to Friday March 26, LINK will be collaborating with community organisations and local businesses to give everyone the chance to get involved and find new ways to connect.

Tuesday will feature a Lilliput Library workshop, followed by a morning tea open house on Wednesday, a Winter Veggies workshop with Dr Compost on Thursday (all at the Wanaka Community Hub), and, to finish, a Friday night screening of the classic movie ‘Forrest Gump’ at Cinema Paradiso.

“In previous years, we’ve encouraged neighbour-to-neighbour connection by delivering packs of teabags to residents of the Upper Clutha,” LINK facilitator Kathy Dedo said. 

“The idea was that you made plans with someone close by to have a cuppa together. In 2019, we sent out 5,000 packs – that’s 10,000 cups of tea.”

This year’s events, LINK hopes, will appeal to residents across the Upper Clutha.

“It seems a small thing, but place-based connection is where community starts,” Kathy said. 

“A parent with young children feels less isolated, an older person feels supported. Kids get outside and play together. In case of emergency, you know who to turn to, or who to check on. 

Now in its twelfth year, Neighbours Day Aotearoa started with the belief that every connection with neighbours makes neighbourhoods more friendly, fun and safe. 

“People who live together have a vested interest in strengthening our communities, and that’s more important now than ever before,” Kathy said.

LINK Upper Clutha is a community-led development scheme that is working to connect the local community as it grows.

It provides a community development hub that coordinates, connects, and enables community wellbeing in the Upper Clutha. 

For more information on events LINK have to offer, and to register for a space for the Neighbours Day events, visit the LINK website.

PHOTOS: LINK