South Invercargill's revival and the thousands of volunteer hours behind it
"I can’t stress enough the importance and appreciation of our volunteers, which contributes to our success. Their time actually equates to 1000s of hours a year."
Eleven years ago, the residents of South Invercargill it seems weren’t all that thrilled by the state of their area.
In fact, when surveyed just 35 percent of people stated they had pride in the 9812, South Invercargill.
What has unfolded over the past 11 years is a lesson in what can happen when a community rolls up its sleeves and takes control of its own destiny, rather than relying on others.
It started by simply picking up rubbish and is now at the point where the area has its very own community hub and people driving events.
The latest survey of South Invercargill residents indicated 91 percent of them now had pride in the area. It’s been an impressive turnaround and a blueprint for other communities wanting to take the lead on their future.
It seems South Invercargill people are now more connected than ever.
The significant transformation started early in 2012 through the establishment of South Alive, which was facilitated by the Invercargill City Council.
Twenty-six people attended the first meeting on February 14, 2012. The conversation started as they discussed their hopes and dreams for South Invercargill.
Invercargill’s Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell praised the organisation when South Alive representatives Beryl Wilcox and Courtney Ellison fronted the council this week for an update.
“I think South Alive has been an extraordinary success, it really has been. Congratulations,” Campbell said.
In 2016 South Alive bought the former Bin Inn store, which is now home to The Pantry, a social enterprise retail store.
It’s since added community meeting rooms and a further extension to the building to create purpose-built community spaces. Outside there are now gardens, play areas, including a popular basketball court, and a stage.
It’s helped with that community connection and sense of belonging for many in the south of Invercargill.
While there has been some funding on hand, much of this success story has been built on good old fashion volunteer work. Something that might not be as prevalent in other community neighbourhoods in the current climate of hand out, rather than hand up.
“Much of the work we do stretches right across the 9812 community. I can’t stress enough the importance and appreciation of our volunteers, which contributes to our success. Their time actually equates to thousands of hours a year,” Wilcox said.
“We try and record what that means in terms of a dollar value.”
That volunteer work has allowed South Alive to be able to keep rates for its meeting rooms low for users, its added in free computer use with the internet for residents because IT access is limited for some, and it has provided the outdoor play and gathering areas and equipment.
“In that community hub we are striving to bring people together to reduce isolation,” Wilcox said.
The work extends beyond just the South Alive headquarters. It runs events and projects throughout South Invercargill.
While this success story has very much been community-led and volunteer-driven the organisation has the equivalent of two full-time staff to help active opportunities.
That challenge for South Alive will be to continue to be sustainable and retain that staffing input.
South Alive is currently in the fifth and final year of a funding partnership with the Department of Internal Affairs for the community-led project.
That has since been extended to a sixth year to provide a transition period.
It currently gets just over $200,000 from the Department of Internal Affairs which it will need to find if it is to continue as is.
“We don’t want to spend all of our time constantly fundraising, I don’t think that’s the main purpose,” Wilcox said.
Through the Vodafone Foundation South Alive has been able to get some funding to have a new rangitahi projects co-ordinator in place which is about driving some trials as to what can be done for rangitahi in the area.
So just why are the people of South Invercargill much prouder of the area than they once were?
Ellison said some of themes that came up in the survey work was simply around the people and the sense of neighbourliness. They also loved the community events and the fact they were on their doorstep.
The survey findings also help shaped South Alive’s priorities now.
“Some of the things identified by the community were more community events, more activities for young people, beautifying spaces, and improving the shopping area, tidying that up a bit.”
If the next 11 years mirror the progress of the past 11 years, get excited South Invercargill.
Well done to all who have played a part to date, you should be proud.