We were delighted to conclude our Knit for Purpose Micro-volunteering Project with The Big Handover! Thanks to the impressive work of many volunteers, we were able to gift 14 beautiful, handmade blankets to some very deserving community organisations, including Birthright Canterbury, The Nest Collective Christchurch and Age Concern Canterbury. These will be put to excellent use amongst the people and clients they support.
Thank you to all the many volunteers who contributed to the project - knitting, sewing, donating - you are all SUPER STARS!! Special mention to Mark Peters, City Councillor for Hornby Ward, who supported our project and presented the amazing volunteers with certificates of appreciation for all their knitting and sewing efforts.
Each year, our Student Volunteer Expo is run in partnership with the University of Canterbury and proves itself year after year as being something of interest and value both to the students and the organisations which take up the opportunity to attend. In 2023, we had 26 community organisations there to talk to students about getting involved on volunteer teams, and just over 300 students come through the expo!
What a fantastic afternoon of celebration we had today, honouring 27 individuals and 11 groups with Volunteer Recognition Awards! Our thanks goes to Mayor Phil Mauger, for being a part of this important occasion, and his valuable message of support.
Thank you to Guest Speaker, Rev Nicky Lee, Deacon at Christchurch Cathedral for her words of wisdom, and Youth Violinist, Georgia Daly, for entertaining us with her stunning performance. Thank you also to Tina Cooper, Creative Designer, for the beautiful Harakeke Clusters and photographer, Jim Huang, who stepped in last minute and saved the day!
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!