MHAW: Tūhono Thursday

As we move closer to the weekend, find some time in your day to connect with someone in your community that you don’t usually talk to. Introduce yourself to a neighbour, a parent at your child’s school, or someone at your local café. Building relationships with people who live in your community can create a supportive network right at your doorstep. 

To get to know someone new in your community today, you could:

• Introduce yourself to a new kaimahi/employee at mahi. Maybe invite them to join you for morning tea or lunch. You could even use our kōrero card set to learn more about each other.
• Check out the What’s On calendar on the MHAW website to find a community event happening near you today. Or, organise your own gathering using the handy ‘How to organise a community event’ resource to help you plan it.
• Get to know your neighbours. Invite them around for a potluck dinner, or head outdoors to your local park together for a picnic.
• Join a new class or group — learn an instrument, join a book club or put on your dancing shoes and discover some new moves. Not only will you learn a new skill, but you’ll get to know a new community at the same time.
• Say “kia ora” to the bus driver, checkout operator or local barista, and ask them how their day is going. These small moments of connection can help to strengthen your local community ties, and give everyone a little wellbeing boost!
• Organise or join a community clean-up day. You could clean up a local awa/river, tātahi/beach or park, or start a whakatō rākau/tree planting project. This is a great way to meet new people in your community, whilst helping to keep Aotearoa beautiful. Check out the Department of Conservation’s website for more ideas.
• Help tamariki get to know other tauira/students, using Sparklers’ Common Ground activity.