Community Link July Update
Community Link Corner: Building Connections Through Community
One of the highlights of the past month has been the success of our Community Cooking Group, which continues to bring people together through food, learning and connection. While participants gain practical cooking skills and affordable meal ideas, the real magic often happens around the table, where conversations are shared, friendships are formed and confidence grows.
Building connections was also the focus of our first Welcoming Day, delivered in partnership with Queenstown Lakes Libraries and QLDC. The event was designed to bring together people who are new to the region with local organisations, clubs and services, helping create the connections that can turn a place to live into a place to belong. The room was buzzing throughout the afternoon, with plenty of conversations, new connections and opportunities to discover what our community has to offer. A free barbecue and the ever-popular Mr Whippy, generously supported by local donor Pip Rudhall Hyett, helped create a welcoming atmosphere. The overwhelmingly positive feedback has us excited about making Welcoming Day a regular event.
As winter continues, we're also seeing significant demand through our Cold Kids programme. By the end of July, we had already helped the same number of families with heating bills and firewood costs as we did during the entire winter period last year. Rising heating costs and colder nights are creating real pressure for many households, but the response from community organisations, businesses and individual donors has been remarkable. Their generosity is helping ensure local families can stay warm through the colder months.
July also saw the highest number of food parcels distributed in Community Link's history, with our Hāwea Foodbank Pop-Up now accounting for around 20% of all food parcels provided. Our Wellbeing Connection service, helping people navigate challenges and connect with appropriate support, assisted 93 people during the month, including 31 people accessing the service for the first time.
Connection remains at the heart of many Community Link activities. Next week marks the final Wāna Soup gathering for the season, wrapping up another successful winter of bringing people together.
We've been delighted by the response to our Pet Therapy programme, with more than 20 new volunteers and their wonderful dogs stepping forward. Interest from schools, retirement villages, libraries and other organisations has been so strong that we're now exploring how we can expand the programme to meet growing demand.