Backyard BBQs help to connect communities

Making sure there is plenty of connection within the rural community through Backyard BBQs at the Panekiri event (from left) . . . Fenton Wilson, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council councillor Di Roadley, Sue Wilson, Kylie Brown, and Sonya and Allan Newton. Picture supplied

It’s the simplest of things in life that can have some of the biggest impacts. Just ask Wairoa’s rural community who attended the Backyard BBQs in the wake of the cyclones and other weather that ravaged the region this year.

The initiative came on the back of the successful Wairoa Rural Round Up evening and was being driven by the Wairoa Community Development Trust with the support of Ministry for Primary Industries along with other sponsors and agencies.

A very dedicated team travelled east to west and north to south of Wairoa, checking in with the rural communities, sharing a snarler and a good old chinwag.

As light-hearted as it sounds, there was a far more serious undertone to the gatherings, explains organiser Sue Wilson. “It is a challenging time for farmers and rural folk,” she says.

“Many are tired and feel forgotten so the Trust wanted to create something in each district where the community were able to catch up with neighbours and mates without travelling into town.”

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They came in their droves. “Our focus has been to create opportunities for rural communities to connect with each other face to face and just highlight the support and resources available to them,” says Sue.

Coming together like that is healing. Chatting with others who have experienced similar difficulties reduces the sense of isolation and often provides those pearls of wisdom that come from live experiences.

Di Roadley is Hawke’s Bay Regional councillor for Wairoa and says many farmers continue to struggle to navigate the burden of managing their business and wellbeing of their whānau, staff and community while still dealing with the damage caused by the weather events.

“Farmers and rural communities are bruised from the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle,” says Di. “This event is really just an extreme event within an extraordinary period of adverse weather events.

“While there are many agencies who have rallied to provide support, there is still considerable uncertainty around what shape this support should be. It is an all-too-common challenge of ‘what do farmers need, when and how do we deliver that to them’, without adding to their time-poor days.”

Di saw the win-win BBQs as a chance for farmers to share their views and concerns which would in turn provide guidance on how she would shape her considerations and decisions on their behalf.

“This opportunity provided a really strong sense of how farmers and rural communities are managing behind the farm gate and I am grateful for the mechanisms available to me to support our uniquely Wairoa needs.”

The Rural Support Trust has only been in Wairoa for a short period of time, so the BBQs were a chance to provide information about the services offered to communities.