Get involved
Do you know your way around a cash register or a coffee machine? If you do, your local might be looking for you.
Neighbourly has devised a clever little service to help keep the community economy ticking, propping up small businesses with a resource that is proving hard to find: people.
Short Notice is designed to help small businesses find staff . . . at short notice.
Neighbourly is a proudly Kiwi-owned social impact platform for individuals and communities to interact with each other with a goal to do more ‘‘local good’’.
The initiative is not about providing long-term recruitment solutions, but rather a helping hand for a few hours, or a shift, from someone in the community so the doors can stay open.
Sarah Moore, head of Neighbourly, came up with the idea when she noticed how many businesses, particularly hospitality outlets, were running reduced menus or weren’t even able to open due to staff shortages.
She considered the skills she had that might be helpful to others in their moment of need.
‘‘While I work full-time, I still have time in my evenings and the odd weekend I’d be happy to offer to a small business to ensure they
To find out more about Short Notice, post a job or lend a hand at neighbourly.co.nz/shortnotice can keep their doors open,’’ she says.
‘‘I can answer phones, wait tables, do the dishes, make deliveries.
‘‘If giving up a few hours of my time is the difference between a business staying open or having to close I’ll be there with my apron on. I’m sure plenty of other neighbours would too.’’
Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois welcomes the initiative.
‘‘The hospitality industry is facing a critical skills shortage so anyone wanting to come and help us out will be welcomed with open arms.
‘‘Many businesses find themselves short-staffed at short notice so this campaign sounds like the perfect solution for our industry. Who knows, you might make some new friends or find your forever job!’’
Moore adds that one silver lining of Covid is how it’s brought our communities closer together.
‘‘Our recent State of the Neighbourhood/Te hua o ngā Hapori survey showed that 33% of us feel more connected to our neighbours since the pandemic and 25% of us appreciate our neighbourhood more now.
‘‘Often we get more joy from what we give than what we get, and that’s what Short Notice is all about,’’ she says.
A Whangārei arts advocate has launched a web series interviewing creative people across Te Tai Tokerau to boost awareness of the arts up north.
Northland Artists Conversation kicked off with an introductory episode in which founder and director Mark Kelly interviews Andrew Mackenzie.
Mackenzie – who helped set up the show – is best known as a rapper in Whangārei trio OBC, founder of Low Budget Brotherhood, and creates hip-hop music videos.
Rockie Stevenson show’s third founder.
Kelly said he set up the podcast series because: ‘‘I wanted to give something back to the local artistic community that welcomed me in.’’
Kelly, 46, conceived the project in August and spent the next nine months setting it up, from small aspects such as designing a brand, logo and online presence, to the big, expensive tasks – painting a studio, engaging supporters, and spending thousands of dollars of his own money purchasing state-of-theart audiovisual equipment.
Kelly also spent months lining up comedians, actors, writers, rappers, musicians, thespians and other people to become the show’s first guests.
Kelly works by day in sales but has decades of experience in entertainment, music and the arts, including singing in an is the
Auckland heavy metal band, running improv theatresports, and filming for local arts events including Fringe Festival poetry shows, the Plunge Pop Culture Convention and the Northland Regional Shakespeare Festival.
Kelly says one of his greatest joys in life is having conversations with creative people and because he loves filming too, Northland Artists Conversation is a natural extension of that.
‘‘Creating the show was about surrounding myself with likeminded people who wanted a fresh way to get their creativity out to a wider market. We all love our beautiful slice of paradise and want to share the amazing artistic talent we have in Northland with as wide an audience as possible. The internet makes that easy, and high-quality tech gear has become more affordable and viable.’’
Northland Artists Conversation is self-funded for the time being, which Kelly says was a choice that enabled him to have complete freedom and artistic control.
The podcast series, which will feature new guests every¯week,A is available on YouTube, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Apple Podcasts for audio.
Applications for an interview spot on the show are welcomed, and Kelly encourages any artists wanting to be interviewed to get in touch via Facebook or by email.