From famine to feast for friendship group

Friendship Force Taupō members Jo Tinworth and Aline Fletcher tumbling with acrobat Billy Britton in Perth. Photo / Supplied

Travel restrictions due to Covid-19 interrupted the holiday plans of many Kiwis.

For the members of Friendship Force Taupō, it also stymied their favourite way to make friends.

Part of a global network of like-minded souls, local Friendship Force participants have enjoyed many journeys since their founding in 1986.

Destinations have included Canada, Japan, Indonesia and the UK. Members have also hosted visitors on more than 50 occasions, from countries as diverse as Ukraine, the USA and Brazil.

All of this came screeching to a halt due to the pandemic.

If this left members feeling lonelier than usual, they at least had company in a certain sense, with several international studies showing an increase in the prevalence of loneliness because of the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns.

Like many organisations, the international offices of Friendship Force also suffered the impacts of the pandemic, losing staff due to a lack of funding.

Even in dark times, though, Taupō's Friendship Force tried to make the best of a bad situation. When traffic light levels allowed, they organised meet-ups with the other club branches across New Zealand and ramped up the interactions between Taupō members.

There is a new light at the end of the tunnel, with international journeys starting up again.

Some members will be off to Sydney next March, making their first overseas trip in almost five years.

Friendship Force families will also play host to visitors from Australia, New Caledonia and Taiwan in 2023.

For more information on Friendship Force, visit taupo.friendshipforce.org.nzor contact the group's president Alan on 027 237 3999.