New Funding Initiative
A new initiative that generates funding for New Zealand community groups will launch on 17 March. It is called CommUnity and recognises that many groups, such as all yours, rely on fundraising drives, sponsorships and endless filling out of forms to fund your activities to help our community

How can you get on board? It’s easy and it won’t cost you or your members an extra cent! Just register as a CommUnity Group on https://comm-unity.kiwi/. Then rally your members, friends and whānau to sign up as CommUnity Members or Community merchants to maximise your involvement.

Contact Lizzy Murray for more info  – 021 782 340 - lizzym@comm-unity.kiwi

Manawatū Food Action Network

Let's Grow Highbury! Garden Hour
10 March, 24 March and 7 April 2021. 11am to noon.  Te Patikitiki Library, Highbury. FREE
Gardening conversations once a fortnight during school terms.

Meet other people keen to garden, get tips for growing plants in your garden or windowsill, get ideas for growing nutritious food for your family and share recipes for feeding those great veggies to the family. Find out what can be planted each month at your place.  Share ideas, plants, seeds and make new friends.  Offered by Manawatū Food Action Network, Growing Gardens and Communities and Te Patikitiki Library. All welcome.
Email food.action@enm.org.nz for more information.

Palmy Crop Swap
Saturday 13 March, from 4pm, Awapuni Community Centre. FREE.
Please note: Our March Crop Swap begins an hour later than usual because we are joining in with the Awesome Awapuni Open Day.

The Awapuni Community Centre is hosting an Open Day so you can see who uses the hall & we will formally bless the amazing Awapuni Gardens, and of course have heaps of great free activities. Palmy Crop Swap is on the second Saturday of each month. Follow our FB page for regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/Palmycropswap

Neighbours Day Aotearoa Plant Swaps
Ashhurst Plant Swap
Saturday March 20th, 10am-12noon, Ashhurst Community Library & Garden
Meet gardeners in your area. Share excess produce, seeds, seedlings, cuttings. Take supplies for your winter garden and kai for your table. Come along even if you don’t have things to give.

Palmerston North Plant Swap
Saturday 27 March, 10-12noon, Palmerston North City Library
Share your spare plants, seeds, flowers, produce or just come along for a cup of tea and a chat. This is a FREE event and light refreshments will be served.

These Plant Swaps are a collaboration between Manawatū Food Action Network, RECAP, Neighbours Day Aotearoa, New Zealand Red Cross and Palmerston North City Library.

Wanted! Any Unwanted / Spare Garden Hand Tools in Good Condition
Manawatū Food Action Network is gathering a trug of garden hand trowels to ensure that everyone who turns up to community garden events can access a tool and get involved. We especially need trowels but would also welcome secateurs, spades, large watering cans and clean buckets.

To donate: please drop items into the Environment Network Manawatū office at 145 Cuba Street or email: food.action@enm.org.nz to arrange collection

The scammer calls to advise the vaccine is available for $49.99. You are given the choice to press 1 to continue or 2 to cancel.

This is a way to automate getting people on the line for a scammer to then get their credit card details, gain access to their computer or exploit them some other way.

The scammer asks you to go to your computer, guiding you to vote to be able to secure a vaccine. The scammer claims that once you’re online to vote/have voted, you’ll receive a payment.

What to do:

• Do not press anything. Hang up.
• Make a note of the phone number that called you, if possible, and the time and date it was made and report it to CERT NZ.
• If you’ve provided any banking details or installed any software report the incident to CERT NZ and your bank immediately.

Remember: the COVID-19 vaccine is free. At no point will you be asked to pay for the vaccine, or pay for your place in the queue. You will never be asked for your bank account or card details.

Vaccines will be rolled out through a COVID-19 immunisation programme as supply becomes available. Border and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers are being vaccinated first.

Vaccinations for the general public are expected to begin in the second half of 2021. Further information about the rollout is available at covid19.govt.nz