More support for broken businesses

an opportunity for people to practise:

• Aroha (generosity).

• Manaakitanga (hospitality).

• Sharing whakaaro (knowledge).

“The two lines represent Ranginui and Papat˛°nuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who together bring balance and growth to all of us who exist between them.”

BUSINESS

FLYNN NICHOLLS ˜ ynn.nicholls@age.co.nz severely impacted by the damage, including Hawke’s Bay and Tararua District.

“It all starts with a smile, a wave, a cup of tea – just opening our eyes to who is around us and making that first connection.”

Neighbours Aotearoa o˝ ers our

• Sharing p˛kenga (skills). Neighbours Aotearoa is a collaborative campaign organised and supported by Age Concern, Lifewise, Inspiring Communities, Christchurch Methodist Mission, New Zealand Red Cross, Wesley Community Action, K°inga Ora and Auckland Council.

For more information, visit www.neighboursaotearoa.nz. You can find toolkits to help you get started, lists of ideas, and can promote your events too.

“The points along each line represent the nine whet˛ of Matariki. They travel across the sky each June/July and represent a time of celebration and renewal for us. The koru are taken from the original Neighbours Day Aotearoa logo. Koru represent growth. By pointing the two inwards to one another, they illustrate reciprocity and sharing.”

Ange is a community connector based in Lower Hutt (Te Awa Kairangi) – the closest connector to Wairarapa. She moved to Lower Hutt about 20 years ago, after growing up on a market garden and orchard in the Nelson area. She loved seeing communities connect through food, music and art. For the past 9 years she has been part of The Petone Depot – a community venue, kitchen and gallery that she helped create. It is an accessible space in the heart of Petone that enables and encourages various community enriching events and activities to happen, such as open mic nights, gigs, exhibitions, koha cafe, monthly crop-swaps, boardgaming nights, Boomerang Bag making, and more.

She is also a founder of ‘Seeds to Feeds’, a charity that helps to activate Wellington neighbourhoods into growing more local food, forming stronger community connections, and culminating in a ‘Feed’ event during a festival week at the end of summer, celebrating and showcasing their locally grown produce.

Ange says: “I’m really excited to be part of Neighbours Aotearoa and get stuck into lending a hand, and seeing even more neighbourly goodness and connections grow and flourish in the Hutt Valley.”

Contact Ange on: ange@neighboursaotearoa.nz

The government has extended its support package for cyclone and floodaffected businesses to Wairarapa.

The funding will come from the $25 million business support package announced in February.

The funding had previously been available only to businesses in the seven regions most

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said Wairarapa businesses also needed support.

“As further information has come to hand about the extent of the damage, it is clearer that businesses in Wairarapa have also been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle,” he said.

Local MP Kieran McAnulty said the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle had impacted life on the ground from the

East Cape to the South Wairarapa coast.

“I’m glad we have been able to get this sorted as fast as possible to help those in need,” he said.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment [MBIE] has linked with different delivery partners in each region to pay out affected businesses as soon as possible. Wairarapa farmers and growers have already had access to separate support through the primary sector recovery package.

Council