CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE
7 August 2009

Community Boards to fund neighbourhood get-togethers once again

Christchurch’s community boards are once again offering funds for its residents to get together and celebrate in a neighbourly spirit.

Neighbourhood Week, dedicated to getting to know the people who live close to you, will be on from Saturday 31 October to Sunday 8 November 2009 throughout the city, including Banks Peninsula.

Application for funding towards a neighbourhood get-together close on 4 September, to give the Community Boards enough time to allocate funds of up to $100 for either small or large local activities. 

“The emphasis on Neighbourhood Week is in bringing people in your local area together to get to know each other – the funding is seen as a contribution and gesture towards an event or project,” says Catherine McDonald, Community Support Manager with the Christchurch City Council.

Mrs McDonald says Neighbourhood Week offers opportunities to add vibrancy into the lives of people in a particular locale.  “It allows each of us to reach out and connect with our neighbours for fun activities which help us to get to know each other. This will help make our neighbourhoods safer and build on the strength of our communities.”

Banks Peninsula officially joined the city’s neighbourhood celebrations last year with the Akaroa/Wairewa Community Board funding six events in Akaroa, including a beach clean-up, and 10 events in Lyttelton, including a recycling swap and a sunflower seed distribution.

Previous Neighbourhood Week get-togethers have included barbecues, street parties, shared dinners, working bees, Halloween parties, colouring competitions, family fun days, children's days, fairs, galas and neighbourhood planting days.

The Council’s website has handy tips and ideas for putting together events for your neighbours at the micro-site http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Programmes/NeighbourhoodWeek/ as well as an application form for the funding.

About the subsidy

A small subsidy towards cost for Neighbourhood Week is currently allocated by each of the city ward community boards to help support Neighbourhood Week events.

Once you have been notified in writing of your application approval, the individual(s) organising your event must pay first, then provide receipts attached to the 'Subsidy Re-imbursement Form' that will be posted to you in order for the board to reimburse your small subsidy.

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