Home & community

I’m new to the district and am finding it hard to feel like I belong. I find it’s not easy to make friends these days which doesn’t help. Have you got any ideas? We call the places where people can meet up easily and naturally, 'bumping places'. Examples of bumping...

If you support businesses in your local area: and if the business is locally owned, then you are supporting another community member, who, in turn, puts money back into the local economy; you’re helping to provide employment opportunities so that people don’t need to move away to find work; you’re...

Working past 65 is fast becoming the norm in New Zealand; in fact, almost half of people aged between 65 – 69 are still in paid employment in New Zealand. People will have their own reasons for wanting to work into their later years; for some it’s about contributing their...

Many people continue working past 65 – whether in paid or unpaid roles. In fact, by 2036 it is estimated that those over 65 will contribute 25 billion worth of unpaid or voluntary work to New Zealand’s economy. Not only does volunteering have a positive impact on the economy, but...

I’m worried about my neighbour. She’s seems quite private and looks very frail. Sometimes I don’t see any movement at her place for days on end. Should I go and check on her? We live in a society where many people have highly valued privacy and individual responsibility and freedom,...

What community means is a big subject. For some it means very little and for others it’s a daily lived experience. It is something we're likely to have to consider as the new health system rolls out its locality based services. We'll talk about this more as the plan become...

Some communities won't know about this type of service as they are scattered around the country and not necessarily available in all areas. Community houses (sometimes known as ‘one stop shops’) are usually large buildings tenanted by various social service and other related agencies. For example, you may find a...