Neighbour Day in Brisbane

Everyone has had good neighbours, and ones they’d gladly swap.

There are the neighbours who share their abundant paw paw crop, bring in abandoned wheelie bins and quickly cast a whipper snipper across an overgrown verge.

The best neighbours are there at two o’clock in the morning when the alarm in a random parked car has been blaring for the past hour. Or at four o’clock in the afternoon when hail the size of oranges has smashed all the windows in your house…

How well do you know your neighbours?

But sadly – for many of us – our neighbours are people who we say hi to a couple of times a week, have a conversation with once in a blue moon, but wouldn’t feel comfortable asking a favour of. You only need to look at the proliferation of pet minding businesses to know neighbourliness could do with a boost. And just think how much school gate congestion could be avoided if we all started carpooling to drop the kids at school?

Celebrate with your local community on Neighbour Day

Relationships Australia believe neighbourly relations are so important to the fabric of our community, that they’ve launched a movement to encourage engagement among neighbours.

Neighbour Day began in 2003 and is held on the last Sunday in March each year. The day is summed up as: “Australia’s annual celebration of community, bringing together the people next door, across the street or on the next farm for a beer, a barbie or just a cuppa.”

Neighbour Day can be as big or as simple as you want to make it – but whatever you do to celebrate, you will be helping to build a safer and happier community.  Relationships Australia says social connection helps prevent loneliness, isolation and depression. It can protect the elderly and disadvantaged and create safer and more vibrant communities for families.

So what can you do to celebrate Neighbour Day?

The first step is to visit the website and register for a free e-kit. It has templates for resources like invitations, e-cards and posters to help get your event up and running. There’s an annual theme, and lots of fun ideas for sharing your get-togethers on social media.

Perhaps you could organise a picnic in a local park, or deliver some home baked biscuits to your neighbours. Imagine how great it would be to encourage your kids to make new friends, or light up the weekend for a lonely neighbour? You might even find someone to feed the cat for you when you’re next enjoying a weekend away!

As Relationships Australia says: “The community you want starts at your front door”.

Neighbour Day 2017 is on March 26th.

In 2017, Neighbour Day’s annual theme is: ‘The Importance of Social Connection for the Elderly.’ The 2017 theme aims to encourage all Australians to reach out to older people in their neighbourhoods, particularly those who live alone.