“Something for Nothing”
What a difference a day makes – well also just a few hours
This was New Plymouth Boys’ High – “Something for Nothing” event and what a great event this was for 18 awesome young people and their great teacher Alex Finlayson.
Connections are key to how successful events are – this is a great example of that.
It all started with an email to Volunteering New Plymouth checking to see if we had something for a group of young NPBHS students to do for a few hours. Several calls and messages later and the connection was made with Merryn Broderson of Land Based Training @ Newstart Gardens. – A Seventh- day Adventist Project- which among other things supplies fresh produce to New Plymouth Food Bank.
The groups spent an extremely productive couple of hours getting stuck-in doing various tasks around the site. The shade house area is now clear of debris to allow access to clean the walls and floors properly, thus, allowing the replacement shade cloth to be installed. The ever-growing pile of debris and bricks etc……is now a small mountain, the small LBT tunnel house is taking shape and the cyclone damaged hothouse is more accessible for full demolition with the front growing area being cleared and mown.
Merryn had nothing but praise saying: “What a great bunch of lads, please pass on our heartiest thanks to all for their hard work and fun attitudes. It was great to have them, and they have helped immensely in progressing a lot of the clean-up work required to enable the SDA Church to continue with their plans to get improvements made to the garden infrastructure.”
This went so well that she has invited them back.
This is all possible by the connections in the community and our young people being guided to pay forward / give back from within the school.
Our thanks go to the team of volunteers Gary, Graham & Pastor Tony from Seventh-day Adventist Church, Alex New Plymouth Boys High teacher and of course the awesome young lads and Merryn of Land Based Training for the collaboration of this “Something For Nothing” event. This has also been made possible by the great connections that Volunteering New Plymouth has with the community.
Poll: Should all neighbours have to contribute to improvements?
An Auckland court has ruled a woman doesn’t have to contribute towards the cost of fixing a driveway she shares with 10 neighbours.
When thinking about fences, driveways or tree felling, for example, do you think all neighbours should have to pay if the improvements directly benefit them?
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81.9% Yes
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15.3% No
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2.7% Other - I'll share below
Have you heard of Community Comms Collective?
Who are they and what do they do?
Well, to answer that question and others you may want to listen to Access Radio Taranaki 104.4FM on Sunday December 1st 2024, to hear Gemma share information about all that the Collective can offer Not for Profit – For Purpose Organisations.
But here are a few questions and answers to other information you may wish to be informed about to support your organisation.
Who are they? They are communications people volunteering their time to help community organisations with a communications boost. Their services are free, and they are 100 percent volunteer run, from the matchmaking and workshop presenters, through to the communications experts who they match you with.
What do they do? They are a matchmaking service which involves learning what kind of communications support your community organisation might need, then matching you with one of the collective of volunteers who has the right skills for that particular job.
Who do they work with? We at Volunteering New Plymouth have had the privilege of having utilised the services of the wonderful Gemma, who recently completed an assessment on our website. Bringing our attention to a number of modifications that will enhance our visibility and useability going forward.
Others who have benefitted from the services of the collective in a variety of ways are Volunteering Auckland, Wellington Access Radio, Pregnancy Help Inc, Neighbourhood Support New Zealand, Hospice New Zealand, KIDZ NEED DADZ, CAB - Citizens Advice Bureau, Cancer Society, Age Concern New Zealand to name a few organisations that you may recognise.
Where are they operating? This is a nationwide service and they welcome requests from all over Aotearoa. They also run workshops on communications topics, usually in person in Wellington, but can record these for the benefit of those around the regions. Their website is packed to the brim with resources across related topics such as media relations, branding, and social media. This is also where they have amazing templates and information on how to improve your communications. So, no matter where you are in the country, you can seek their support.
Where can you learn more? If you are interested in learning more about Community Comms Collective, visit communitycomms.org.nz and listen to Access Radio on 1st December. This show is also available to listen on Spotify and Apple Podcast - to find these go the either Access Radio Taranaki website and these recordings can be found under Community or to Volunteering New Plymouth website and look under Volunteers and Volly Calls.
Who can you contact?
If you are curious to learn more about what is involved and / or how you can get involved then contact Wendy (Monday to Thursday) at Volunteering New Plymouth on 06 758 8986, Ph/Text: 022 571 4228 or Email: admin@vnp.nz. to take the next step.
Think You’ve Got the Answer? Today’s Riddle Says ‘Prove It’!
If eleven plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?
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