HELLO 2022: A welcome back from NBHD.
Kia Ora and welcome back to the ‘hood for 22!
After a much needed summer break, our team has been working behind the scenes since January to gear up for our No Small Talk dinner series which will be running from March-April across 4 cities, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. On top of these events there is so much you don’t see - NBHD merch is in the works, more campaigns are on the horizon and we have expanded our team to 23!
I am incredibly proud and humble of this little movement and how it continues to grow. From a small idea scrawled in the pages of my 19-year-old self’s diary, never did I imagine Neighbourhood NZ would grow and evolve like it has. We now have a presence in 4 major cities across the country and an ever expanding capacity to do good and make grassroots change in our community. As a model of operation that is unique to anything we’ve experienced before, we are all learning and growing as we go. I mean it when I say my team are the most adaptable and intuitive people ever!
For me, my focus is to maintain Neighbourhood NZ’s core values and our overarching mission as we grow and evolve. Always leading from the heart, I want to ensure our mahi stays sensitive, relevant and positively impacts everyone it touches.
Over the next few weeks you’ll be able to rep Neighbourhood through our brand new line of merch, or even attend an event in a city near you. Come and say hi! Come and join our collective movement towards positive change.
We are simply the first spark of change, it is you all who support us and carry it forward who create the wildfire.
Ngā mihi nui,
Madeline Mason
Director
Kia Ora, it’s been far too long!
This year seems to be absolutely flying by, can you believe we are already in March? 2022 is shaping up to be the most epic that NBHD has experienced yet and we have been busy bees setting up our hive so that we can bring you and our communities some awesome new projects.
I can still remember sitting together with Madeline in Neighbour Café back in November of 2020, spending the afternoon writing up the society rules and regulations before sending away our application to become a registered not-for-profit. Now, here we are, nearly one and a half years later with twice the number of team members that we started with and what seems to be a limitless amount of passion and enthusiasm. I am speechless at the growth that we have achieved in such a short amount of time and forever thankful to Madeline for being courageous enough to open up to me about her brainchild of an idea and for all of our team, both current and previous, who have made it a reality.
From an events perspective, we are thrilled to be working on some awesome new concepts with some truly amazing collaborators. We will be running our series ’No Small Talk’, around men’s mental health again, and also introducing some new campaigns and events. As always we aim to tackle issues and topics that don’t often get the mainstream media attention they potentially deserve and that some individuals in the public may still see as taboo. Our mission at NBHD continues to be around education and inclusivity - creating safe spaces that allow people to have open conversations. It is our goal that by allowing others to share their past experiences we, as a community, can all grow, evolve and become more accepting of one another as we gain a better understanding and insight into these.
We are always working on something and are open to hearing what you want to see from us. At the end of the day all that NBHD is, is a group of people who are passionate about helping other people - in whatever capacity that may be. So, please don’t hesitate to reach out with ideas or topics that you want to see. We are incredibly excited to meet you at some of our upcoming events - keep your eyes peeled!
Ngā mihi nui,
Jadzia Michna-Konigstorfer
Vice President & Events Director
