1693 days ago

Sisters start business building what others despise: flat-packs

Danielle Clent Reporter from Western Leader

Good morning neighbours,
Two local sisters are saving one marriage at a time with their business venture of constructing flat-pack furniture.
Jala Hooker, 9, and 8-year-old Aalia Hooker started Flatpack Girls about two months ago, following a homework task that involved coming up with a business idea.
Both Jala and Aalia said they find building flat-packs enjoyable. While they do get a little help from their dad who checks the instructions and puts weight on the power drill, they do most of the work themselves.
Click the link to read more of this story - and to find out how the girls are donating some of their earnings to charity.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!

William Hansby Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.

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6 days ago

Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑

Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.

We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?

Want to read more? The Press has you covered!

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🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
  • 52.8% Human-centred experience and communication
    52.8% Complete
  • 14.8% Critical thinking
    14.8% Complete
  • 29.7% Resilience and adaptability
    29.7% Complete
  • 2.8% Other - I will share below!
    2.8% Complete
576 votes
13 hours ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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