KEY POINTS:
Amid the headlined mayhem of violence and abduction, a North Shore group is working from the ground up to build a safer community - by getting to know their neighbours.
Albany and Takapuna community co-ordinators and Rebecca Harrington, a community worker for the Methodist Mission now called Lifewise, have banded together to create a Know Your Neighbours Project.
They have started door-knocking in streets in Albany, where 5-year-old schoolgirl Ma Xin Xin was abducted by a masked man outside her house on Monday.
"The Albany community is rapidly developing, yet has little or no neighbourhood connection in some areas," said Albany community co-ordinator Robynne Pringle.
And next week they will start distributing 2000 copies of a brochure to homes in the Sunnynook area suggesting "10 easy ways" to get to know your neighbours, such as inviting them over for a cup of tea or offering to babysit their children.
Mrs Harrington and her husband, Miles, both 24, decided to practise what they preach by inviting their neighbours for dinner at their Browns Bay house a few weeks ago - Janet Bradley, 54, who has lived in the street for 31 years, and the Alejado family, who moved there from the Philippines three years ago.
"They had had encounters with each other but had never got together like that before," Mrs Harrington said. "We've been living here for a year and a half since we got married. It's been a joy for me as well to bring the neighbours together."
Mrs Bradley said that when she moved in in 1977 there was only one other house in the cul-de-sac. "The rest was fields."
As other houses were built, most were bought by families like hers with young children and stay-at-home mums who quickly got to know one another.
"But over time people have moved away and people have become busy. Since Rebecca has been here it's kind of bringing it together again."
Renata Alejado, 47, who lives next-door with his wife, Ellanor, and two young children, with a third due next month, said there were no children of the same ages close by for theirs to play with.
"Where we come from, everybody knows everybody. You don't feel alone, you get social support. I support this 110 per cent.
"It's nice to know your neighbours beyond saying hello in the driveway."
Mrs Harrington said her job was an initiative of the Takapuna Methodist Church, which wanted to do something about problems affecting its community such as financial hardship and isolation.
"The initiative isn't about solving specific problems - it's about getting back to the basics of supporting the people who live around us.
"The first thing is the brochure. We are hoping people will be challenged when they read it." * Rebecca Harrington can be reached at (09) 489-4584.
10 WAYS TO SPARK A FRIENDSHIP
1. Have a chat when you next see your neighbours.
2. Invite a neighbour over for a cup of tea or coffee.
3. Take over some home baking.
4. Offer to help a neighbour with gardening or lawns.
5. Host a shared meal for your neighbours.
6. Create a babysitting club.
7. Go for a walk around the block with a neighbour and your dogs.
8. Invite your neighbours' kids to play with your kids.
9. Share transport or supervision to and from school - start a walking school bus.
10. Organise a shared-driveway or street get-together.Know Your Neighbours Project
