Summer with your neighbours (formerly known as Neighbourhood Week) brings people together and now runs for the entire summer.

Have you ever wanted to organise a neighbourhood gathering?  Do you want to get to know the people who live close to you? Perhaps you've always wanted to put on a potluck for the whole street?

Summer with your neighbours is about bringing people closer together and celebrating the unique and diverse mix of each neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood Week was the brainchild of the Shirley-Papanui Community Board (now known as the Papanui-Innes Community Board), which held the first event in 1998. This popular event has grown from year to year and is promoted by the Council. 

Three years ago we extended the event for the whole summer after feedback from our applicants and it is now known as Summer with your neighbours.

Download your Summer with your neighbours invitations [PDF, 199 KB]. Fill them out and send them around the community for your event.

Apply for funding

Applications for funding for Summer with your neighbours 2020 are open from Saturday 1 August until Sunday 6 September.

Planning your event

Stages Checklist
Getting Started
  • Decide what sort of gathering you would like to have
  • Decide on a venue (please contact us to book a park or reserve, we also have community facilities available)
  • Decide on a time and date
  • Plan a couple of meetings and invite everyone
Planning
  • Share jobs – don't have one organiser – involve everyone
  • Prepare a volunteers list for help on the day and who brings what to the event
  • Take into account all your costs so there are no surprises along the way
  • Plan activities for all ages and tastes
  • Is there easy access for disabled people to take part?
  • Health and safety – think about potential risks and work out how to manage them
  • First aid – who will be responsible? Have any volunteers had training?
  • If your gathering is on public land please keep in mind public liability insurance (see below for more information)
  • Prepare invitations [PDF, 199 KB] 
  • Deliver your invitations in plenty of time
  • Keep communicating – by email, Facebook, chatting over the fence and flyers to invited neighbours
  • Plan for the weather – is there a change of date for bad weather?
A week before
  • Send out reminders with a flyer or an email or put up a sign to advertise your event
  • Run through the day in detail. Are all the jobs covered or are there still gaps to fill?
On the day
  • Be good hosts. Set up early and prepare to welcome people
  • Introduce people who are new to your neighbourhood to others at the gathering
  • Check health and safety issues
  • Enjoy the day!
After the event
  • Report on your event
  • Share your photos with us
  • Plan for the next gathering

Gathering suggestions

Street party

Organising a street party is a great way to get to know all the neighbours living in your street. To make it a little more fun you can have a theme or fancy dress.

Welcome new neighbours with a potluck

Friendly faces and knowing people by name is a great way to start out life in a new neighbourhood and will make your street safer in case of an emergency.

Neighbourhood sports day

Organising a sports day is a fun and active way to get the neighbours together, and with a little thought young and old can participate.

  • See what equipment is available within your neighbourhood, for example; cricket sets, petanque, badminton
  • Think about hiring equipment. Some organisations have sports equipment for hire for a small fee
  • Think about activities for children, such as musical chairs, egg and spoon races, or balloon games
  • Organise chairs for older members
  • Decide whether equipment will be set up or if you will hold a mini-tournament
  • Think about after activities such as a barbeque and prize giving with certificates

Start a community project to give back to your area

There are lots of examples of great community projects happening in neighbourhoods. From fundraising for local sports teams and social clubs to community gardens and graffiti removal for the streets.

Check out these community projects:

Walking school bus

A walking school bus(external link) is a safe and healthy way to get the children to school. It also helps you get to know the children and parents in the neighbourhood. You can apply for a subsidy to help cover costs for an end of term gathering for your neighbours that take part in the walking school bus.

Neighbourhood clean-up

If you want a make a difference as well as getting to know your neighbours you may be interested in organising a neighbourhood clean-up.

  • Identify areas in your neighbourhood that need a clean-up. For example, the beach or  river if you live close by
  • For cleaning graffiti, you may want to contact the Council Graffiti team
  • Provide or get people to bring gloves and rubbish bags if you are collecting rubbish
  • If you are near water ensure that parents keep an eye on their children
  • Decide how and who will dispose of the rubbish
  • Think about any post-clean-up activities such as a picnic or barbeque

Monster street garage sale

Ever wondered what to do with all that clutter in the garage? Get a few of the neighbours together, organise a street garage sale and apply for a subsidy to help cover costs for a gathering afterwards.

  • Set a date and time
  • Think about how you will advertise the garage sale. Use a local residents’ association newsletter, local school or church newsletter or bulletin board, or the traditional sign at the end of the street can be just as effective
  • Organise a collection time for bringing together things to sell
  • Allocate tasks for the day, people might be on a rota for the day
  • Decide on how the money will be distributed. You might decide to keep track of who sells what or use the money for a street get together

Venue hire

The Council has community facilities which are available for hire for a small fee(external link).

You can also book a park or reserve.