How did you do in the recent Northland power outage, Cyclone Gabrielle and other such scenarios?
Do you feel ready for the next one, or are wishing there was more you could do to be prepared?
Do you have skills and resources that others could benefit from to ‘get through’ but you’re not sure how to share them?
Do you know that you’re easily left without heat, access, or running water when such events occur?
We’ve recently received a grant to help you help each other and learn to be better prepared. We’re running a pilot project mainly in Te Hiku, but there will also be ways to be involved in the rest of te Tai Tokerau.
The plan is to run some Te Hiku neighbourhood networking groups to help timebanking ‘neighbours’ help each other, a series of workshops across the whole of te Tai Tokerau, and set up a database of useful skills, resources and known needs.
We need some keen beans to help us shape this and ensure that we meet the needs of our members rather than us trying to guess. Are you interested? We’re hoping that we can use this project to shape future funding applications, and having members help make decisions about what is needed most will lead to better outcomes.
However we only have until the end of January to fit everything in so we need to get cracking!
The first workshop is already planned for 14th September 10am- 2pm at Pamapuria looking at chainsaw safety with fallen trees etc, followed by a working bee to deal with some that are down - so you can earn back the timecredits you spend on the workshop!
Then on Saturday 21st September 2-4pm at Anō Anō, Kaitāia on composting toilets as an emergency option when the sewerage system is overwhelmed by flooding. As those who have experienced major flooding events already know, one of the first things that happens in a big flood is that folk are asked not to flush the loo. Ken Spence will explain how to make and use a simple bucket toilet, with the option of a urine separator (available to buy at the event and online) and how to manage the waste collected.
We have ideas for more workshops around food preservation that doesn’t rely on a freezer and many other topics, but we would love to respond to requests where we can.
We're planning to set up the first neighbourhood groups around folk who are keen to get involved. For rural areas 'neighbourhoods' will be a rather loose term, so even if you're out in the back of beyond we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the button below and it'll take you to our Contact Us form.
The Coordination team will also be working on an members database of resources, skills and known needs, and getting a boost to their communication connectivity during power cuts and cellphone blackouts and blank spots. We'll fill you in on that side of things as we go!
With many thanks to the Cyclone Gabrielle Appeal Trust for their funding of this project. We hope it is just the beginning of a regionwide resource for Timebankers and their whānau, helping us all to get ready and get through.
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