What an amazing turnout for the culmination of our micro-volunteering project, Knit for Purpose! We had a fantastic afternoon on Worldwide Knit in Public Day with two groups getting together, in Christchurch and in Rolleston. So many wonderful individuals joined in to drop off finished squares, start sewing blankets together & chat with other like-minded knitters. We would like to give a huge shout out to everyone single person who has taken part in this project. Your efforts have been incredible and the end result has far exceeded our expectations!! Many thanks also go to our colleagues at Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury, with whom we collaborated on this wonderful project.
Recently, a team of 20 students from Loburn School Te Kura Aromauka have gifted each Friday afternoon of Term 2 towards helping out at Silverstream Reserve. These wonderful students have so far undertaken a variety of tasks to support the optimal growth of trees and grasses in the reserve. Wonderful work everyone!
In the space of a few weeks, two teams from two fantastic businesses volunteered for a day at Edible Canterbury. In March, the team from Abbott Insurance helped to install the delta florax product on the green roof, washing stones and transporting them to the roof to secure the edges. In April, the team from HealthStream worked in the gardens mulching, clearing, and planting. Thank you for your mahi teams!
Our Outreach Manager, Glenda, had the pleasure of meeting with Roz from Edible Canterbury at Otakaro Orchard in the centre of the city recently. A 30 year agreement is in place for this site for the creation of a kai orchard in the central city. As well as the orchard, which utilises permaculture, there is a sustainable building currently under construction which will provide facilities for workshops, education … and a café! The building will have a ‘blue green roof’ which means that it will be planted (that’s the ‘green’ part) and also utilise rainwater for irrigation, so not impacting on stormwater (that’s the ‘blue’ part). Edible Canterbury is one of our amazing community organisations which hosts groups through Volunteering Canterbury’s Group Volunteering programme – a great way for groups from businesses, youth and faith-based groups, special interest groups to lend a hand to ‘make a difference’ in their community.
On 18 February we were thrilled to once again participate in the Christchurch Culture Galore festival! It was fantastic to see such a huge turnout of locals enjoying the entertainment and food, and soaking up the fabulous range of cultures that make up our city. At our stand, Glenda and Tammy were able to talk to a steady stream of people interested in finding out more about engaging in volunteering, and as always we offered free rock painting for the young and young at heart! #VolunteeringRocks!