Welcome to Neighbours Day Aotearoa!
The kaupapa of Neighbours Day Aotearoa is to encourage people to get to know your neighbours better! It is as simple as that!
Every day is Neighbours Day! But we do choose 10 days in March to be intentional about connecting with neighbours.
Previous years have seen people joining Neighbours Day Aotearoa to hold plant swaps, BBQs, community movie nights, street parties, beach clean ups, and even small acts like sharing a cup of tea or running errands for our neighbours. You can check out pics of previous Neighbours Day Aotearoa events here and check out our FAQ’s page for more information here.
Kai Connections
Kai Connections was the theme for 2022. This was all about getting people to connect in the different ways we come together over kai – growing, sharing, eating. There were many diverse and creative ways communities celebrated Neighbours Day Aotearoa this year - check out some photos of the celebrations here.
Recipes from the community
During the campaign, we did a call out across the motu for people to share their most-loved recipes. So many delicious recipes were submitted! Here are some for you to enjoy with your whānau, friends and neighbours.
About Neighbours Day Aotearoa/ Mō mātou
Neighbours Day Aotearoa aims to help bring people together by encouraging intentional connection with their neighbours, whether that be organising a street party or just saying ‘Kia Ora!”
Neighbours Day Aotearoa began in 2009 and it is a collaborative campaign organised and supported by Lifewise, Inspiring Communities, Christchurch Methodist Mission, New Zealand Red Cross, Neighbourhood Support New Zealand, Kāinga Ora and Auckland Council.
Thousands of neighbours, organisations, local government and local businesses have been involved, bringing neighbours together over ten days in March each year.
Regardless of where you live, knowing your neighbours matters. We believe that knowing your neighbours better - knowing you can call on them, or they can call on you makes your neighbourhood more friendly, fun and safe.
Have you heard the saying ‘the neighbourhood who plays together, stays together’? Well, we just made that up to be honest, but we do know that in communities with more everyday ‘neighbourliness’ are stronger and more resilient, significantly enhancing the wellbeing of individuals, family/whānau and the wider community. On a more serious note, we know that stronger neighbourhoods can be part of the successful antidote for many social issues within Aotearoa.
Why Neighbours Day Aotearoa?
We acknowledge te reo Māori as one of the official languages of Aotearoa; the word Aotearoa is a word that originally was used to describe our beautiful country. Unlike English, Aotearoa is the only place in the world where we can speak te reo Māori and we want to be a part of keeping te reo Māori alive and relevant.
Neighbour's Day in the United Kingdom
Not only in Aotearoa, but the spirit of nurturing strong, resilient, and neighbourly communities also thrives in other parts of the world. One such place is the United Kingdom, where Neighbour's Day is celebrated with jubilance and unity. Similar to its Aotearoa counterpart, UK's Neighbour's Day is centered around the theme of bringing people together and engaging in fun, communal activities to create a healthier, tighter-knit community.
In terms of staying connected with your neighbours, it's important also to keep a careful eye on strange numbers or unidentified callers attempting to contact you. This applies not just in personal instances, but also when organizing large community events like Neighbour's Day. To help with this, the website Who Calls UK gives you the opportunity to check who called you, enhancing communication safety within your neighbourhood.
