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Bernie on the Beat: Neighbourhood Support Connecting Communities

Published on October 30, 2023

As the famous soap opera theme song goes ‘Everybody needs good neighbours’. Working with NZ Police, Horowhenua Neighbourhood Support helps connect you with yours.

Neighbourhood Support knows that a well-connected community helps to improve safety, resilience, and wellbeing for all.

The best way to have, and be a good neighbour starts with connection. Get to know your neighbours. If you know them you can feel safe and connected. You have someone to go to if you need any assistance and it’s not quite urgent enough to warrant an emergency response, or emergency services are busy with a major incident.

Whether you’re helping each other following a natural disaster, or you simply need some sugar because you’ve run out, having a good relationship with your neighbour is always a positive thing.

A free service, Horowhenua District Neighbourhood Support (HDNS) encourages you to connect with your neighbours and provides you with tips and resources that improve household and neighbourhood safety and emergency preparedness, and helps you stay up-to-date with important community news, alerts and events.

They work closely with Police who provide information, crime statistics and topical safety tips which the HDNS team distribute.

They share this information to reduce the risk and fear of crime. They help foster a sense of community spirit, support victims of crime and identify the needs of the people in the neighbourhood and ways to assist each other.

It is free to join Horowhenua Neighbourhood Support and it is easy to sign up. Often HDNS host stalls at community events giving away merchandise and information, and people can sign up on the spot. Horowhenua Neighbourhood Support is coordinated by Deb Campbell. Her office is based at Levin Police Station on Bristol Street and she welcomes visits when she is in the office. To stay well connected in the community, she hosts information meetings with neighbourhood groups, distributes regular emails and provides updates via their Facebook Group - Horowhenua District Neighbourhood Support.

A nationwide community-led movement operating since 1999, Neighbourhood Support New Zealand is a registered charity made up of a network of community organisations (member organisations) that currently support over 200,000 households (and counting) across the country.

Stay Safe.
Bernie