Wellington project to ‘love local’
Seven years ago, a teenage Abbie McKoy met up with a boy in Wellington cafe and fell in love.
Although five years had passed since they ended their young romance, this week they sat at a table by the window at The Hangar cafe once again and talked like no time had gone by at all.
‘‘Little did we know that a coffee date here would lead to a wedding three years later. And our MC would be Nick Clark, who set this place up and invited us in so warmly.’’
Now, McKoy has started Return To Local, a campaign to get people back into their local shops and cafes.
Wellington has no shortage of places to get coffee and a bite to eat, and is a haven of little shops selling local, handmade or boutique items you can’t get elsewhere.
Most have been hit hard by Covid-19, and McKoy’s movement, played out online on Facebook, encourages people to post pictures and stories about their favourite local places, and show them they’re loved.
Letitia Thomas, of Rosetta Cafe in
Ka¯ piti, said it had been a big year for her and her husband Ashley.
They took over the cafe in January last year, and a year later were married with their first baby and living through a pandemic.
‘‘It hasn’t been easy, but it has been rewarding. We have such incredible staff.’’
Being open again was ‘‘such a blessing’’, Thomas said. Because of the one server per table rule, Thomas had been serving customers with baby Scarlett in a front pack, which customers loved.
‘‘My little one has enjoyed it most of all. She loves being around people and smiling at the customers when they come visit us.’’
Sabrina Schellkes and Mike Rigg opened their cafe The Common Room only five weeks before lockdown.
‘‘It’s definitely been an adventure to say the least,’’ Sabrina said.
McKoy said the project felt like a good follow-on from the Front Door Project, which gained attention over lockdown as bubbles posed for photographs on their doorsteps.
From the onset of level 3, people were heading out and enjoying their interactions with local businesses.
One business owner McKoy had known for years cried during their conversation, scared and worried at a lack of customers. ‘‘I thought, ‘Gosh, what can I do?’’
She wanted people to feel seen. ‘‘It’s a story of resilience and perseverance. Business owners are used to adaption, so it’s about sharing that story.’’
She encouraged people to get out and take photos of storefronts and their products, be it food or something else, and share it online, perhaps on the Return to Local Facebook page.
‘‘It can be cringey to do it, but that one picture you took can really encourage.
‘‘Some people don’t self promote, so we need to help promote them.’’