Six indicators are used to measure social connectedness in New Zealand. These are: telephone and internet access in the home, contact with family and friends, contact between young people and their parents, trust in others, loneliness and voluntary work.
Community connectors have been employed in Amberley, Cheviot, Culverden (Amuri) and Waikari-Hawarden.
Like the name suggests, community connectors are working in the community to facilitate community events and opportunities and connect new comers with groups and activities.
Community connectors have been on the ground since 2016, providing support for community groups and services, and enhancing community connections and wellbeing.
Cheviot: cheviotconnector@gmail.com, catherineconnector@gmail.com
Amberley: amberleycommunityconnector@gmail.com (this position is currently vacant)
Amuri: jessconnectamuri@gmail.com
Waikari: hwconnector@gmail.com
Immigration New Zealand: welcoming-communities-standard
The CAN Report May 2015 is an excellent case study of creating social inclusion, and was presented to the Together Hurunui network in 2018 by author Kirstin Dingwall-Okaye.
Volunteering
Volunteering underpins a wide range of groups and organisations whose activities contribute to social well-being. Volunteers provide their time and skills to help others and to make a contribution. People also volunteer to meet others, to develop their skills and broaden their experience, to make contacts that may lead to employment, and to fulfill parental, social, cultural, and religious obligations.
Volunteering is alive and well in Hurunui and many organisations and community groups rely solely on volunteers. Volunteers are generally recruited at a local level, while larger organisations can advertise in sites such as Volunteering Canterbury http://volcan.org.nz/. People can search for volunteering positions on this site by clicking on their town under the ‘not in Christchurch’ listings. This site is not widely promoted in the Hurunui.
TimeBank Hurunui is well established in Hurunui and provides a user-friendly platform for time bank members to ask for, and to offer, help. This can be from IT help to gardening, and everything else between. https://hurunui.timebanks.org/
