A home for your excess veges: New scheme aims help elderly with rising living costs
Seeing the elderly go without fresh fruit and vegetables led one North Canterbury woman to set up what she hopes will become a nationwide scheme that connects gardeners with excess produce to those most in need.
Julie Lamplugh has set up The SEDE Project in Rangiora and is hoping its success may lead to other communities through-out New Zealand doing the same to help pensioners who may be struggling with the cost of living.
After hearing about 93-year-old Christchurch man Keith Simmonds struggle to afford to eat fresh produce, Lamplugh wanted to help.
“We’ve managed to find a gap where the need isn’t being met.”
A community-led initiative, SEDE which stands for Supporting Elderly Diet Enrichment, aims to coordinate contact between home gardeners and pensioners who would welcome free produce.
The service will also offer isolated elderly residents ongoing contact with people in their neighbourhoods.
Read more here.
Some Choice News!
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!
🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Do you think you know the answer?
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Poll: Canterbury is thriving on paper... but are you seeing evidence of Canterbury's improving economy?
As reported in the Press, Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman recently gave a shout-out to our region, calling Canterbury a "stand-out" for how we recover from tough times. With tech firms growing and exporters investing, the business side of things is looking bright!
👉 But we know that "business growth" doesn't always mean the weekly shop gets any cheaper. While the city expands, many families feel like they’re just trying to keep their heads above water.
We want to know: With the business buzz of 2026, do you feel like things are finally looking up for your household, or does it still feel like a climb?
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21.2% Yes
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60.6% No
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18.2% In some areas ...
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