2012

So a New Year has begun. I thought I shoild start this year's blogging off with a saying -
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." (Anne Frank).

There are several reasons I started with this saying, one is because like lots of sayings it's quite simple yet quite profound. I also thpguht it appropriate because the Southland Museum and Art Gallery has an exhibition on at the moment called Anne Frank A History for Today - I haven't seen it yet but plan to go for a look before Sunday when it closes.

Of course there is another reason I think this saying is a good one to start the year with - and that's because there are many people in Glengarry who are doing exactly what Anne suggests and the start of a new year seems like a good time to remind people what's happening in Glengarry and how you can get in involved.

So here is a summary of what's happening - the Glengarry Community Market & Car Boot Sale starts again for the year on Sat 28 Jan - new stallholders are always welcome. The Market is developing into a real community asset - it has a fantastic atmosphere, great people and a wide range of stalls including arts, crafts, Jewellery, plants as well as secondhand goods. It's well worth a visit if you haven't already been for a look. The Market also provides an opportunity for groups to fundraise, perform or Busk.

The Church also has a number of exciting initiatives happening including soup n toast every Wed lunchtime. As part of this a representative from Jubilee Budget is there to help people out as required. The church also has a Community garden on Lithgow St where people can learn how to grow veges and reap the rewards of doing this.

Ree Richards is another valuable member of the Glengarry community, she has a real heart for the people and as well as being one of the main organisers of the Market she also runs a Weigh Club for locals. They meet at 10.30am at the Stadium/Velodrome and with thw support of Sport Southland learn about healthy eating and exercise and go walking together.

Another local resident is Caroline Holmes. Thanks to Peter Sh and at the Laundry in Glengarry who has made some space available to her to use, Caroline has developed an art space where people can come and create art works, watch art happening and contribute to beautifying the area through art. I encourage people to check out what's happening in the space next to the laundry and look out for opportunities to get involved.

The Glengarry area is also now home to the Invercargill Environment Centre - previously located in the SIT arcade in town. This new centre has a lot to offer the community in terms of knowledge about environmental issues as well as information about things like gardening, wormfarms and mch more. As they settle into the area they will be looking at other ways to contribute to the area such as painting fish on drains.

Of course Glengarry has a number of well established businesses who continue to make valuable contributions to the area including Habitat's Restore which brings lots of people to the area and the Eastern suburbs Tavern which provides great lunch time meals as well as supporting things like the Community BBQ held last year. We look forward to working with both these organisations in 2012.

And finally - at least I think finally - we have a small group of people who have been working with Landscape Architect Nigel Cowburn to redesign the Yarrow St car park of the shopping centre to make it more appealing to locals, tourists and visitors to the area. This has been identified as one of the highest priorities by the community and we hope that the proposed improvements will allow the community to have greater pride in their community!

So there are lots of things happening already and we hope to develop these this year. We would love to get more people involved and more projects started so would encoourahe anyone keen to get involved t contact me through this blog or the Glengarry community Action Facebook page. Here's to another exciting year in Glengarry - isn't it wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to start making the world a better place.

Glengarry update

Hi Glengarry Supporters! This email contains more updates about Glengarry actions and activities you could get involved in. It includes: 1. An update on the presentation to Council on 22 Nov 2. Information on how to submit to council on the 30 year plan 3. Request for help delivering the latest Good News Glengarry Newsletter 4. Community BBQ to be held on Sat 10 Dec 5. Community Arts Project update

1. Update on presentation to Council On Tues 22 Nov I presented a ten minute talk to the ICC about what has been happening in Glengarry. The city councillors were glad to hear about our plans and the consultation we have been doing. They were impressed with the leadership we have shown and look forward to hearing more from us in the future once our plans have been finalised. There was also an article in the paper on Thurs 24 Nov about the presentation.

2. Submitting to council You may have heard about the Council's 30 year plan for Invercargill - they have made a 25 min dvd all about it. In this dvd they talk about urban revitalisation of areas such as Glengarry. The council is keen for people to make submissions about this 30 year plan and I would like to encourage you all to submit about revitalising Glengarry being an important priority. The following link takes you to a page where you can watch the 25 min plan online http://www.icc.govt.nz/News/MediaReleases/BigPictureUpdate-Nov.aspx and the following email address should be used to make submissions about the plan bigpicture@icc.govt.nz Submissions will be accepted I believe until the end of December.

3. Good News Glengarry The latest newsletter has been printed and we are looking for any helpers to deliver it to homes in the Glengarry area. Please text me or email to arrange to get some newsletters. My cell number is 027 2252 664.

4. Community BBQ 10 Dec 2011 On Sat 10 Dec 11.30-1.30pm we will be holding a Community BBQ and Picnic in the playground at the shopping centre. Eastern Suburbs Tavern is kindly supporting this event by providing sausages. Thanks Barry. Please come along, bring a picnic lunch and talk to us about your thoughts about Glengarry. We will have copies of the first impression plans available to look at and comment on, information about the Lithgow St community garden and other church activities and the new art space next to the laundry will be open to hear more about the Glengarry Community Arts Project. We look forward to seeing you all there to talk about the future of Glengarry. If wet we will have the BBQ at Eastside Baptist Church.

5. Glengarry Community Arts Project The space next to the laundry has been cleared out and is ready to be used as an art space - Thanks to Peter for making this space available for this exciting project and big thanks to Caroline for getting this up and going and thanks also to Chris and the folk from last Wednesday's Soup n Toast for helping with the clear out. Caroline is after some materials to help get started with the art and also lots of people to get involved in creating art! If you enjoy art then this is your chance to make a difference and be part of something fun. The things Caroline is looking for includes egg cartons, glossy magazines, acrylic paint, cardboard, offcuts of plywood, newspapers and chicken wire. Do get in touch if you can help with this in anyway.

There are some other things happening in the area too including the Eastside Baptist Community Garden, Soup n Toast at Eastside on Wednesdays, the bus shelter mural which is being worked on with Aurora College students and the Community Market & Car Boot Sale which will be held on Sat 3 Dec and Sat 17 Dec 9.30-12.30pm.

As always please let me know if you no longer wish to receive these emails. Please pass these emails on to others who might be interested in what's happening in Glengarry and encourage others to get informed and involved. If you would like to see something happening in Glengarry get in touch and we will do all we can to support and help make things happen. If you have any skills you could use to help us with the things we are doing please also get in touch. Cheers Becs