Exciting opportunity to join a vibrant community office space at the Halswell Community Hub

Halswell Community Hub are looking for local businesses, organisations or groups to join us in our Community Office Space.

Halswell Community Hub has been operating for nearly 4 years in what was the Old Halswell Library and is now a thriving community space used by many many groups and organisations. It is a great place to work and a great place to connect.

We are in a great location on the junction of Halswell Road and Sparks Road with off street car parking and everything you need on your doorstep.

Due to some recent changes we now have office space available for the right person, group or organisation.

If you are community minded, keen to connect with local people and groups or are looking for a place to work from, get in touch.

We have a space with 2 desks that would be ideal for either a small organisation with 2 people or for 2 people working individually. 

With approximately 11.5m2 there is plenty of space for storage whether that be filing cabinets or small cupboards.

Included in the price is your Power; Unlimited Internet; Use of communal facilities (toilets, kitchen) and Use of our interview room (shared between tenants so fair use applies)

Contact Kate or Keri at halswellhub@gmail.com for more information or to arrange a viewing 😊

 

Familiar Face: Zahra Hussaini

Local Resident, Zahra Hussaini is the youngest member of a refugee family originally from Afghanistan.  She spent 12 years in Iran before coming to NZ almost 15 years ago.

She speaks of a feeling I’ve heard many immigrants express, that she does not quite belong anywhere fully.  As a New Zealander she is aware that she is seen as different, but when she goes back to Iran she is also aware that she is now seen as different there because her life here in New Zealand has changed her. The positive side of that, she says is that she is very adaptable and has a good understanding of culture. She is finding her way through understanding what it means to be a young Muslim New Zealander along with others of her age who live here.

Her religion and parents have taught her the importance of helping people around them and giving back to their communities. Possibly as a result of that, Zahra is very  active in the refugee and migrant community here. 

She spends time with young people to encourage them to get involved in building positive change in the community. She volunteers for Who is Hussain? an organisation which aims to provide for those in need through empowering individuals, particularly youth, to give back to the wider community in Christchurch. Alongside this, she has been studying science at Ara and is now completing a Degree in Science at Canterbury University.

The recent attacks on the Muslim community have made her even busier as she uses her considerable skill and care to help.  She comments “I’ve found that being involved in the community has a strong impact in creating a sense of belonging to where you live.”

While I’m talking with her I’m impressed by the size of Zahra’s heart and her sadness at what has happened here. Like many of us, I am deeply moved by the forgiveness that Zahra and her community here have shown and the enormous gratitude she expresses for how so many New Zealanders have helped out since.  

Zahra says “I was so moved at Friday prayers in the park after the attack. It felt amazing to be surrounded by thousands of people, many who were wearing headscarves, because they wanted to show solidarity and keep us all safe.”  She says she felt the same at the memorial service the Friday after that.

Zahra is now working with others to find ways to thank Christchurch people and to reciprocate the love and assistance that has been shown to the Islamic Community here. She is keen to break down the barriers between communities and to make sure that the horror of the attacks has some long term positive outcomes.  She embraces diversity and tells me that it is one of the most beautiful things we have in New Zealand.

Let’s keep that and make it grow stronger in our community here in Halswell.

About the Halswell Website

I’ve recently read some comments on the website and realise that many people don’t know how it developed and where it came from, so here is a little run down of its beginnings and how it runs now.

The photo is Hugh Donald. Hugh is the current webmaster for our website (www.halswellcommunity.net.nz), and he does all that work completely voluntarily.

The Halswell website was initially launched in March 2012 and was built to supplement the newsletter. This newsletter got started in mid 2010 and back then, Halswell had a tiny presence on Facebook (unlike now!), so it was much harder to get the word out to Halswell people. 

Building the website was a mission for someone who had no background in Web Development (me) but without the considerable money it takes to get professional developers to do it, there wasn’t much choice.  

The website was built using Joomla which is free software, and we installed free templates and other free components etc.  

 The Halswell Residents Association paid for the first two years of webhosting and our domain name and these costs were taken over by the Halswell Community Project which was set up in 2013.  These expenses are now covered by some of the business advertising that appears on the site.

Hugh came on board in December 2015.  He noticed that much of the information on the website was out of date and emailed, offering to assist. Since that time he has been the main man on our website and he has been incredibly generous with his time.  On a completely voluntary basis, he has learned his way through the programme that the website uses and then took on rebuilding the site in 2017.  He has continued to update and manage the site with a little help from a few of us at the Halswell Community Project.  If that is not enough, he has branched out to help other community groups with their websites, and does a number of other community focused activities.

Development of the website is ongoing and we're keen to get other people involved in maintaining and possibly even developing it.   We've recently changed the template that we use to try and make the site more cell phone friendly.  The upgrade has helped, but it looks like some more work is needed to make it work better

We would love to have one or two other people help out with the website.  Hugh has developed a great set of instructions and “how-to”s, and most of the work updating the site is quite simple.

Please check any information that is up there for your community group or business and make sure it is up to date.  If it is not, then let us know what has changed so we can update it.

The best way to get in touch is via the contact form on the website at www.halswellcommunity.net.nz

Chrys Horn (HCP)

Familiar Face: Dr Sandra Hicks

Dr Sandra Hicks is very familiar face to the people of Halswell because she has been a  GP here for twenty years. The popular doctor has just retired from  her position at Halswellhealth.



Originating from Timaru, Sandra had a doctor for a dad and a nurse for a mum. Undeterred from the clear message from society at the time that "girls are nurses, boys are doctors,"  Sandra had her heart set on being a doctor, from the age of five or six.

Fairly practical reasons motivated Sandra towards becoming a general practitioner. Sandra and her husband Murray had their two daughters early in their marriage and  GP work provided a more flexible work option.   Sandra began her career working at Christchurch Hospital, then spent four years in California, followed by some time with Family Planning, some GP locums and eight years in general practice in Hei Hei.  After that, Sandra came to work in Halswell and has been here ever since.

Sandra has loved general practitioner work because of the great variety and the long term relationships.  "There are times when you really do make a difference in people's lives, sometimes by making the right diagnosis, sometimes by just affirming the person before you and how they are making their own health choices or life choices," explains Sandra. "I have also loved working with the people that I  have worked with," and the feeling is mutual; the staff at Halswellhealth warmly describe Sandra as "passionate, intelligent, and caring."



As well as a demanding  daily work schedule, Dr Sandra found the time to be  very involved with the political aspects of medicine. Sandra found the work to be "fascinating" after initially being shoulder tapped to join the local branch of the College of GPs (RNZCGP). She became chair of the local faculty and then was a delegate to the national RNZCGP council. She followed that with 10 years of service to Pegasus in a number of committees and was also on the Board. During that time, she was a member of the IPAC council and on committees charged with giving health sector advice to ACC and the Ministry of Health. Later she served  on the board of the New Zealand Medical Association for many years.
 


Another huge achievement for this busy doctor was being an integral part of the establishment of  Longhurst Health.  The building of this health centre was initially driven by Dr Hicks and her colleagues Dr Sarah Marr and Dr Phil Jacobs.  With the population expansion here, more facilities were clearly needed. The doctors thought it would be a good idea to build a centre with adjacent health services  from the beginning, rather than waiting for the services to grow up gradually around the medical centre, as had happened in Ensign Street. Sandra, Sarah, and Phil were joined by pharmacists Doug Stanton and Karen Frater and dentist Vivienne Levy as co-owners of the building. They met together every week for a very long time to bring it to fruition.  The building has allowed our medical services to continue to have a sense of community, by bringing  in many local, established health care providers in on the project.


When not working, Sandra has enjoyed entering some multi sports, running, kayaking and a little bit of cycling.  She also enjoys reading and the arrival of grandchildren has rekindled an interest in knitting. For the last eighteen months, Sandra has spent Fridays looking after her grand-daughter and hopes to spend more time with her and her young brother in the future. Sandra and her husband often visit California where their other daughter lives with her family. They have also travelled to Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Italy and  Switzerland.




Retirement is presenting  Sandra with new opportunities.  She is learning Italian in anticipation of a planned trip. After a long and busy career, she is looking forward to having time to "just  sit" but also to "get fitter again, to do some two to three day tramps, and to travel some more," and then you realise Sandra won't be " sitting" for long, as her energy and enthusiasm are so evident. Other doctors tell Sandra that "she will be bored and that she needs to keep her registration up in order to do locum work." Sandra is still pondering that decision.




Sandra has been a very hard-working GP who has delivered professional excellence in her practice, been committed to medical politics  and   been a large contributor to the Longhurst Health project, which is a huge asset for the people of Halswell. Sandra will be missed by her clients and by those who have worked with her.  We wish her all the best for her retirement and her well-deserved break.

Familiar Face: Claire Russell

If you have been to visit Rice Cube the international meeting on Friday nights at South West Baptist Church, in Balcairn Street, you will know the familiar face of Claire Russell who has been leading this group since 2011.  Around 60 people turn up each Friday night, with ages ranging from 3 to 70  to eat together, play games and to study English.   

Claire has a huge heart for international people in our community.  She believes this stems from her childhood experience of growing up in Rotorua and going to a predominantly Maori school.  This was her first experience of a culture "different from her own".  She also witnessed the bus loads of people who came to visit the area from overseas.

Now, in her third decade,  it seems that a lot of her previous work and studies have helped prepare her for her work at Rice Cube.  After completing a degree at Canterbury University in Education,  Claire  taught overseas in Korea for three years. She has also taught English As a Second Language in  Christchurch and also did  a six month stint in Fiji doing missions and social development work.  In additional to all this,  Claire has completed a Theology degree at Laidlaw College.

It was more by chance that Claire got involved at Rice Cube, though.  During her time in Korea, she met a girl named Kylie and then met her again in Christchurch. It was Kylie who asked Claire to co-lead Rice Cube in preparation for taking over the responsibility as she was heading back overseas.

In taking on this role, Claire has found it to be very rewarding.  She  says that she is a person that loves to connect people and that is what Rice Cube is all about.  It brings people together of all ages, and people who are new to a country often struggle with loneliness.   "As a group, we offer support and friendship and the environment is very inclusive and welcoming" enthuses Claire.

2016 brought some changes to the  Rice Cube gatherings.    Last year the group spilt in order to meet the  needs of the different age groups.  On Friday nights the adults and families meet at Halswell site from 6pm – 8.30pm  and the   teens meet at the Spreydon site of South  West Baptist Church from 5.30pm – 8pm.  Claire would also like to highlight other new local opportunities for international people here:  English language classes run on Wednesday mornings 9-11am at Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre for   $4.  This follows on from the success of the classes that were started in Wigram a couple of years ago. And secondly, there is now a  huge amount of resources available for the international community at the new library.   She suggests that people go into the library and ask what is there.


Apart  from organising Ricecube,  Claire is also a pastor at South West Baptist church  which sees her busy in other roles.  When she gets time away from it all,  Claire likes to read, go for walks and holiday  in her camper.

Rice Cube is bringing a wealth of opportunities for international people to make lasting connections. Claire says “If you  would like to have a great social night out and some great food, pop along  on Friday nights to the South West Baptist Church in Balcairn St.” If you would like to  contact her, phone 3384163 ext 242 or ricecube@swbc.org.nz

Familiar Faces: Des, Judith and Tina

Three people who have become ‘familiar faces’ at the Halswell Market are Des Kale, Judith Cain and Tina. All reside at St John of God Halswell. Here are their stories.

Des Kale, now in his early seventies, was born in Palmerston North, and grew up in Wellington. He was diagnosed with cancer on the spine at the tender age of four. Des explains his journey: "Specialists removed as much of it as they could and left some benign cancer, however in the 1960s, my legs started to go again".   After some radiation treatment, the doctors sent me home with the conclusion "there was nothing more they could do for me". Ironically, Des has outlived all the doctors who had sent him home to die.

Not held back by the challenge of living without the use of legs, Des found several work opportunities. If you own a Fisher n' Paykel steam and dry iron, it is possible that Des assembled it for you in a factory in Auckland. Moving later to Christchurch, Des worked at Tate Electronics when it was in the city centre. He enjoyed his work there, however, he didn't like having to rely on people to lift him in and out of the two-storey building, and he began to look for a new job. Des's next workplace was at a Canterbury engineering firm in the 1990s until he was made redundant during a time of restructuring.

Des moved to live at St John of God Halswell as he couldn't do things at home by himself anymore. With a natural, upbeat temperament and outlook, Des finds all sorts of ways to help others. He can usually be spotted guiding new visitors to the rooms they are looking for. Other residents have noticed that Des has "become a real part of the place".  Des will tell you that he loves being at St John of God and “the staff are fantastic".

Judith Cain had her life all mapped out. She is the daughter of the family who owned the  well-known Christchurch company "Cain's Caterers," and with that  influence had developed a real love of cooking. After qualifiying in teaching food, nutrition, clothing and textiles, Judith took a  gap year in Australia. The plan was that she would come home and take over the family business with her mum the following year. All of Judith's dreams and hopes vanished in but one moment when she was rear ended by a 4WD driver, just three months after arriving in Sydney.

Left with a debilitating back injury, Judith began an eight year road of recovery. During these difficult years, Judith determinedly, began her own clothing cutting business as "clothing was a close second passion to food". Business was going well and she began to buy up real estate as a hobby. However, at the age of 46 her life took a second dramatic turn when she received the incomprehensible news that she had Muscular Sclerosis.

Judith's family eventually moved her  to Christchurch where she lived in Edith Cavell home in Sumner for ten years. Three years ago, she relocated to live in St John of God Halswell.

Judith still loves to chat about cooking and clothing, and while finding most movements difficult, she still has some use of her hands. It has recently been suggested that she use some of her many cooking skills to help in the kitchen of the Occupational Therapy room at St John of God Halswell. "It's not over yet!" says Judith with a beaming smile.

Tina moved to St John of God Halswell three and a half years ago, leaving her home in Burnside as household activities had become hazardous for her. Tina was born and raised in Christchurch, and attended Burwood Primary, Shirley Intermediate, and Burnside High School. As a child, she can remember being in trouble for being side-tracked by reading.  She was an able student who was encouraged to sit six subjects for School Certificate, instead of the usual five. Tina thought about what would be a long term employable skill and trained to be a typist.

Marriage came next at age twenty, then, Tina had her first child, Rowena. At the age of 23, Tina received the devastating news that she had Multiple Sclerosis. Her son James was born after that diagnosis and Tina's children became her salvation and strength to face the battles ahead.

Simply finding that she had very little time to think about herself, as all young mothers do, she  focused on doing all that she could for her children. She took them to Plunket, kindergarten and school escorting them by ridingon  her mobility scooter. Tina continued to focus on her family's needs above her own, and her efforts paid off as her children grew into capable adults with careers in law and mechanics.

Tina talks of the deeper changes in her thinking. Her experiences taught her that "life is not all fun and games," and "if something good comes along, you need to take it with both hands, because the next day it may be gone."

Today, family has continued to be a large focus for Tina; she loves to go shopping with her daughter for her new grandchild and frequently visits  her elderly mum. In her free time, she makes her way through the big pile of books in her room and enjoys tending to her garden.


Sometimes, life can throw some pretty big curve balls. The experiences that Des, Judith and Tina have had to deal with, are about as difficult as it gets. We can learn so much from them about coping with the unexpected, how to live with changed dreams and how to find a new pathway that will bring a sense of fulfilment and joy.

Familiar Face Ron Fensom QSM

Ron Fensom is a familiar face in Halswell firstly, because he has lived here since 1960 and secondly, because he has devoted all of his spare time to community service, achieving much and collecting a number of awards along the way.

The Halswell Lions Club, of which Ron joined as a founding member in 1978, gave Ron a President's Appreciation Award for outstanding service in 1993/1994. The Riccarton Wigram Community Board have awarded Ron twice; with a Community Service Award in 2000 and with a Certificate of Appreciation for unparalleled commitment and dedicated long service to the Halswell area, in 2016. Making the Queen's Birthday list of honours in 2004, Ron was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service. In 2006, The Christchurch City Council gave him the Civic Award for services to his community. More recently, the Halswell Residents Association presented Ron with a quarry rock trophy engraved 'Ron Fensom Q.S.M Lord Mayor of Halswell' for having the vision to form the Halswell Residents Association and for chairing it for 22 years. As if all this isn't enough, Ron is also a former Jaycee, a founding member of the Halswell Probus group, and a member of the Templeton Returned Servicemen Association.

Ron attributes his love of community work to growing up in the little West coast town of Kumara that was always "pitching in together." His mother, although she passed away at the age of 29, was an influence too, as she was a tireless community worker. Ron settled in Christchurch, where he met his future wife Jennifer and the pair moved to Halswell to raise their three children. Earning a living as as a plant engineer at Hornby Glassworks and later, Lane Walker Rudkin, Ron was often on call day and night. After this, he worked as a sales engineer for Andrews and Beaven, which he thoroughly enjoyed, travelling throughout the South Island giving lectures on energy efficiency.

Today, Halswell residents continue to benefit from the things that Ron and the clubs and committees that he belongs to, have campaigned for. There are far too many to list but some that come to mind are: the bus route being directed to go past the hospital, the Annual Anzac Parade, the Halswell War Memorial Restoration, the Halswell and Halswell Junction intersection upgrade, public meetings on local issues, court battles to save buildings, new footpaths, pedestrian crossings, cycleways, mitigation systems for Lillian St flooding, speed limits, new ward boundaries and so on. Ron through the Lions Club, has been able to be involved with many other local projects as well as attending seven district conventions and one international convention.

The project that Ron is most proud of is chairing forty-two meetings over fifteen years, in order to retain the extension of the Domain so sports facilities could be expanded there. Yet, Ron reveals a lovely humble attitude, when explaining some of his motivations: " I'm just an ordinary guy," "I learnt how to project manage while I was an engineer," "I think a dream without action is a figment of your imagination," and "You can get a lot done if you enjoy what you are doing." Ron is not an "ordinary guy." The long list of awards testifies to this. He has worked tirelessly and courageously to leave Halswell with a stronger identity through historical projects, and also to make changes and provisions for the current and future needs of this area. For those of us who are newer residents, it is good to know of the upstanding citizens who fought to make Halswell the wonderful community minded place that it's known for today. May we not be too busy building our lives, that we do not contribute to the place around us, or be the generation that does not see beyond our own needs. Ron Fensom Q.S.M has a remarkable legacy that we all are the receiptants of. He is, and possibly always will be the 'Lord Mayor of Halswell.'

Familiar Face: Miss Annie

Annie Finlayson is well known to many people in this area as she has been teaching at Aidanfield Christian School for twenty years. She has also taught in several other schools in Invercargill,  Dunedin and Christchurch accruing a total of forty five years unbroken teaching experience.  Incredibly, she has never lost passion for her job. Her smiling  face is testament to the joy she feels and after all this time,  she still has the knack of making new students and their families  feel incredibly important. Being  very much appreciated by the students, parents and colleagues around her, the recent school drama production of  "Annie" was dedicated to her.

"Miss Annie" as she is affectionately called, grew up in Mosgiel, Timaru and had a stint in a Nelson boarding school.  Both of her parents valued academic education and Annie can remember "loving everything about school." She vividly recalls observing a teacher taking the attendance register when she was seven and thought  "how cool that was."   Becoming a teacher was a most natural step for her.

"Supportive" is how Annie describes her teaching style.   At the start of the day, she greets the children and tries to get an idea of how the children are feeling.  "It makes it easier to start the day on a positive note and the children go with it." From there, she "tries to get the important stuff done: numeracy and literacy."  Her manner is confirmed by   present-day students who say "when Miss Annie tells you off, you don't feel angry; you feel sad because you have disappointed her and you decide not to it again." Other students describe her as "gentle, kind and understanding." Annie simply says " She loves kids, and that teaching is the only job that she has ever wanted to do."

Favourite memories for Annie include the children's successes, their eureka moments, a the day to day learning.  Annie reminisces: "the five year old who came into the class yelling 'I can write my name!'; the shy smiles of children when they realize they can do this; the classmates who reach out and say 'come into my group' and the parents who are overwhelmed with whether their wee treasures' learning is secure or not, and need encouragement that it is not over yet."  Many students have stayed in touch and Annie  has enjoyed  hearing of the  birthdays, weddings and new babies  of her ex-pupils.  Similarly, meeting former students in the community who still recognise her has also been a highlight.

Often central to Annie's thoughts and conversation is her own family: son James, daughter-in-law  Jo and grandchildren Maia,  Nico and Cooper.  Annie "Being a grandmother is amazing and always a joy. They are my precious treasures," effuses Annie.   Spending more time with them, as well as going shopping and drinking coffee with friends is what she looks forward to.

Annie is leaving behind a wonderful positive legacy of teaching and relationships. Fortunately, Aidanfield won't lose her completely, as she will most likely be back as a relief teacher.

Familiar Face: Sue Britt

Sue Britt is a very familiar face in the Halswell community because she has lived here for twenty years but also because of her public performances as the ever patient assistant of Elgregoe aka Greg Britt, Sue's husband. Sue and Greg are recognised as two of New Zealand's top school show performers and spend most of their time delivering a 'You've Got the Power' message that has been seen by over 850, 000 students and reaches an estimated twenty percent of New Zealand Year 1-8 students every year. Combined in their show are tricks, ventriloquism, puppets, parrots, songs, poems, amazing illusion and audience participation making a fast and fun show. Their passion is not just to perform great shows but to challenge students about how they treat others at school. The traffic theme this year, taught students "to STOP bullying, to SLOW down and think about what they can say and to go and be the student that can make a difference."

A born and bred Cantabrian, Sue went to St Martins Primary and Cashmere High. Sports and creative classes such as cooking and sewing caught Sue's interest, rather than traditional academic subjects. On leaving school, Sue enjoyed working as a receptionist for an accounting firm. Life took a different turn when she met Greg through a youth group and they married. Sue's life became focused on raising their children and working part-time. Once her children were independent, Sue began touring with her husband, entertaining children throughout New Zealand.

The El Gregoe show evolved gradually. Greg's passion for magic led to the opening of a magic shop in the Shades Arcade and then in Colombo St for fifteen years. However, stiff competition from outlets such as the $2 shops, The Warehouse and the internet began to make the business uneconomic and sadly, they had to close the store. However, sometimes great things come from the most difficult of circumstances, and the magic shows were born with a timely request from a Halswell school principal at the time. He asked Greg if he could bring some magic with a message addressing bullying issues and the show was so well received, other schools started requesting a visit. Greg then, went to Australia to spend time with Clifford Warne's Television presenter and author of many books on communicating with an audience, in order to develop routines that would work with an anti-bullying theme.

The Elgregoe school show has been very busy ever since travelling up and down the country delivering the much needed message that Bullying isn't cool, and You've Got the Power to Make a Difference. It has been a very rewarding experience as Sue and Greg meet adults in the malls who recite the earlier slogans such as It's cool to care, from shows they had seen in their school days. Sue says that in recent years, schools are seeing the importance of teaching key values, building good relationships and encouraging students to make a positive contribution at school. Responsible, Respect, Courage, Integrity, and Acceptance, are key words of the show. Sue loves that they are teaching life skills and giving people tools to combat bullying. Touring the poorer areas, tugs on her heartstrings; the places were there is not enough money for children's lunches or shoes. However, seeing many parts of New Zealand, has also been an interesting, as Sue suggests she wouldn't have got to visit them otherwise.

Despite all the travelling, the Britts have managed to grow a close family. Sue describes herself as "fairly family minded" adding that they "modelled their family on other families they had observed around them." Their three children, are friends but give each other space too. Interestedly, a public life working with children, has been embraced by Sue and Greg's children as they have all, in their own ways followed in their footsteps. Melanie, pursued a career in early childhood. Nicholas worked with his dad for four years and has now carved out his own career as a magician on the Sunshine Coast and Tash is a 24/7 worker in local schools and is in charge of the children and youth's Sunday School programme at South West Baptist Church. Melanie and her husband Sam have just had their first baby, Nicholas and his wife Jess have three children and Tash is about to get married to Curtis from Wales who is working on the rebuild downtown.

At the moment, the Britts are also in the midst of designing and practising a new show for the new year, in order to begin a whole new round of touring. Balancing grand parenting, wedding planning, tour planning and performing, Sue finds peace when walking and gardening. The tranquil surroundings of Halswell, are also a welcome tonic. Sue and Greg together, have created a very happy family life, while at the same time have been delivering a great proactive message to huge numbers of New Zealand children. These are both pretty impressive achievements.

Halswell Creative Talent

There are many creative people in our Halswell Community doing work that they enjoy wholeheartedly.  This month,  the Halswell Newsletter interviewed four of them.

Nick Hawes and Pauline Dellow of Cats in Your Face

Nick and Pauline are fairly surprised by the creative hobby they have begun in the last year or so as they are also rather busy with their graphic design business, Yellow Pencil.
Painting brightly coloured terracotta pots with vivacious looking black and white cats, had a surprising beginning: from volunteer fundraising for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter at local rural A and P shows. The pair had enjoyed working there so much that when it was over they began to wonder what they could do at a regular market.  After some thought, they decided to combine Pauline's love of painting, Nick’s graphic design skills and their mutual love of cats. It's a concept that is working as they are selling well, and the couple have enjoyed seeing faces light up as they head over to their stall. Many have suggested that they could develop their hobby into a business. However, the last thing they want is “for it to turn into another busy job."  The Halswell Market has been their home and they love meeting customers but also the regular community developing around the market.  "You get to catch up with everyone once a month without all the trouble of organising dinner parties," says Nick cheekily.  Having been married for 38 years, with  kids grown and left home; their newfound hobby has also been something nice to do together.

If you would like to see Cats in Your Face products, you can find them at the Halswell Market, which is every fourth Sunday in the St John of God gardens 12 - 3pm. If you wish to contact Nick and Pauline, see their Facebook page or website www.catsinyourface.co.nz


Paul Harding Browne of No Boundaries Furniture

 As is often the case with creative people,  Paul's interest in all things woodworking began as a child.  He grew up in a family that didn't watch television.  " We were always busy building something."  His father's reply to the question " Can we buy a...?"  was always "Let's see if we can make it. "    Paul began making projects at the age of eight or nine and   one of his first pieces was a "funky round TV cabinet."  People's first reactions were "You're mad."  "Why are you making something so complicated?" and   "Why don't you just make it a square?" However, orders eventually began to come in from family and friends for cots, tables, bedroom furniture, bookshelves and wall units.  Realising that he liked new creative challenges, he set up a custom made furniture business ten years ago. 

No Boundaries Furniture creates any piece of furniture in a wood and metal combination, but primarily with wood. Teaming up with local upholsterer, Brian Roper of WPS Upholstery, Paul  is able to  fulfil client  requests for designs that require cushions and upholstery.  Paul loves to fulfil client expectations because "they have often found a design that they are really excited about." Furthermore,  "bringing life to an old piece of furniture is also very rewarding." Other aspects of the business are in-house cabinetry,  furniture alterations and designer furniture.  Not wanting to waste the beautiful wood offcuts lying around the workshop, Paul has created several artistic  pieces of furniture. For a more in-depth look at Paul's work please go to

www.noboundariesfurniture.co.nz




Lynette Brass of Wedding Flowers by Lynette

Floristy was an early “calling” for Lynette as she had made up her mind that she wanted to be a florist at the early age of five. She also  recalls getting in trouble after school because she had  collected bunches of flowers from people's gardens  on the way home.  In a similar way, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana revealed an early interest. Lynette can remember  everyone was talking about the dress, except for  her because she couldn't wait to see the bridal bouquet!

On leaving school, Lynette worked in an Interfloral flower shop and trained as a florist. About the same time, she began to arrange  bridal flowers for  weddings of friends and relatives, and has continued to do this for the past 25 years. Lynette also works part-time in the dental health department of the CDHB. It wasn't until  2012 that she began Wedding Flowers by Lynette and formalised what she had already been doing for many years.

Lynette's business has taken off and is hectic during  the wedding months. Regular posts on Facebook  and her website show beautiful attention to detail in an array of various flowers and styles. Clearly evident is Lynette's pride and joy  in her work, shown through the quality of her arrangements and the beautiful photographs that she takes or posts. Going beyond what the client expects in  creative ways is also an a part of Lynette's business style  and something that she really enjoys doing.   In her spare time, Lynette can be found in her garden, or studying the floral fashions of Europe and celebrity weddings.

To find Wedding Flowers by Lynette go to www.christchurchweddingflowers.co.nz

Familiar Faces:Lesley Parker's Halswell Community Choir and Friends

The first time I heard Lesley Parker's Halswell Community Choir and invited musicians was at one of their earlier concerts in the Halswell hall a few years ago. They made a big impression with the choir doing a fabulous job of singing upbeat songs, sometimes in five part harmonies which the audience sang along to. Afterwards, the musicians jumped on stage to belt out dance numbers and the hall erupted with the whole audience jumping to their feet and dancing for the rest of the evening. We had enjoyed the night so much that naturally when Halswell Community Project were trying to think of another community event to hold, we thought of Lesley and her friends and thought a Halswell winter dance would be fun. And yes, it was, it turned out to be another great night where the crowd danced all night long to perfectly pitched cover songs.

The Halswell Community Choir are often seen at local events and the thing that strikes you about the choir, apart from their lovely tunes, is the joy that is on their faces. They are loving every minute of what they are doing, and with the self-deprecating humour of their Irish director, as well as a mix of other musicians, it makes them a very entertaining bunch.

All this musical talent came to Halswell, not long after Lesley and her husband Matt arrived here from the UK. It was then that Lesley started the choir. Lesley had grown up in Northern Ireland and Matt, London. Music is a big part of their lives, however, they also have day jobs. Lesley works as a science teacher at Westmount school. Matt used to work for the city council but is now a pastor of Kings Church in the city. Kings Church is part of a worldwide family of churches called New Frontiers which is involved with church planting. There are New Frontier Churches here in Christchurch and also in Wellington, Auckland, New Plymouth and Nelson. Many of Lesley's fellow musicians attend this church too.

Matt and Lesley both came from homes where there was a love of singing. Matt's dad even joins the choir when he comes over from London to visit. Lesley's family attended the Quaker church, which ironically, worships in silence. Her parents could both hold a tune well and everywhere she went, Lesley joined a choir or worship band. Matt obtained a degree in Music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and plays the bassoon, amongst many other instruments.
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The community choir was started by Lesley because "what she loves to do most is to sing with other people." She also loves to see the support the group gives to each other and also "the joy in the room at the end of evening spent singing."
Their current songlist includes a wide variety of songs such as: Sammy Davis Jnr's”Rhythm of Life”, Josh Groban's “You Lift Me Up”,”Three Dog Night's”, “Joy to the World”,  Dave Dobbyn's “Welcome Home”, Bic Runga's “Hello, Hello”, and Ross Meecham's “The World Still Turns”.

The choir sings at the Anthony Wilding retirement village, the Aidanfield Christian School Fair, the St John of God Christmas Carols and have their own concerts at Te Hapua. The next place they are singing is the Aidanfield Christian School Fair on Saturday 19th of November.

The other musicians that often accompany the choir are local musician Ross Meecham playing his own songs. You may also hear the talents of Sam Watson, Catherine Bryant, Alex Bryan, Chris Horn, Matt Parker and the fabulous Kings Blues Band.

Prospective choristers do not have to audition; the only job requirement is that ".they enjoy singing. Everyone is welcome”. If you are interested in coming along to choir, message Lesley on the choir's Facebook page or email halswellcommunitychoir@gmail.com or turn up to practice on Monday evenings in the Aidanfield Christian School 7.15-9.15pm
 

Halswell Youth Achievement:The Adventures of Jasper and Sharkcrock in Magictopia

While most children at age six are learning to read, Jasper Harrison was writing a book. His book "The Adventures of Jasper and Sharkcrock in Magictopia" has now been published, and arrived as a lovely Christmas surprise.  Jasper opened his Christmas parcel and discovered his own book!

Japser's story is set in the magical world of Magictopia where the sky is red, the grass blue and houses are made of dragonfruit.     Magictopia is in civil war and Jasper Kungbear's parents, the King and Queen, have gone missing.  Jasper and his friends embark on an exciting journey to find the map that will lead them to his parents.  They encounter challenges such as vicious giant bombardier beetles, Ninja robots and the evil villain, Dr Poisoning Pirate.  The story is full of twists and turns because in Magictopia, the kingdom where one thousand witches and wizards reside, anything can happen. It is a delightful, humorous, original, action packed story that any primary school student would love to read. 

 Jasper loved putting all his creative ideas into one story.   Justin, Jasper's dad, said he “loved seeing the unbridled imagination of a six year old.  'Magictopia' is Jasper's world and it was a lot of fun to play around in a sandbox world and edit the story together."   They are currently writing Jasper's second book and plan to write more.

 A love of reading and a well-developed imagination have been nurtured in Jasper by his parents, Justin and Lisa, who began reading to him even before he was born.  He had had so many stories read to him that at age four and a half, he would happily read books by himself.  Furthermore, Jasper of his own accord, decided to read movie subtitles. "He did this for two and a half years and increased his reading speed considerably," notes Lisa.   "He reads up to ten hours a week, especially when he has discovered a new series that he loves."

Further confirming his writing talents, Jasper achieved a High Distinction in the writing ICAS exam, which is only achieved by the top 1% of students entered from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Other influences are his writing Granny and a writing Dad. His Granny, Tui Harrison, wrote for a regional newspaper and still enjoys writing the occasional poem and short story.   Her son, Justin, is a member of the Christchurch Writers Guild and reviews New Zealand books for "Takahe", a nationwide literary magazine.   Justin also loves to write fiction.  He, in fact, wrote his own first 20,000 word story when he was still at school and has written his own 120,000 word novel: "The Eye of Torrbey" which he hopes to get published soon.  Recently, too, he wrote its prequel: The Mage Wars.  Jasper credits "The Eye of Torrbey" as being an inspiration for his own writing.  

"The adventures of Jasper and Sharkcrock  in Magictopia" by Jasper and Justin Harrison can be purchased on Amazon, Fishpond or by emailing :  HarrisonFamilyPress@gmail.com   Look out also for  Jasper and Justin's next book in the Magictopia series that is coming out in November 2016.

Familiar Faces: Barry Perkins and Sal Marks

More often than not, when you walk into Halswell Hammer Hardware on the corner of Sparks Road and Halswell Road, you hear laughter and familiar banter going on between
Barry, Sal and their customers.  You get a sense of long history and long relationships at the shop. Sal began working at the shop in 1990 and Barry bought the franchise five years
later. But even if you are new to the area, Barry and Sal will chat away to you about your day, your projects, making you feel as though you are already “one of the locals”.
Surprisingly, even though Barry and Sal have been at the corner store for twenty and twenty-five years, respectively, they both travel long distances to get to work.  Barry commutes daily from Brighton as he “loves the beach” where he lives with his wife, Linda. And Sal drives from Eyreton, North Canterbury, where she lives with husband John and spends time working with young horses.
Sal’s interest in horses led her to a job in Kennedys Bush Road, working for Dr. Cliff Irvine and Sue Alexander who are world renown specialists in equine reproduction. Sal would
spend early mornings with the horses, and then go to Halswell Hammer Hardware. Today, she continues a similar pattern of being at the shop in the morning and then going home to handle young horses in Eyreton.
 Barry also cites horses as one of his interests commenting that he is a typical Kiwi bloke that loves rugby, league, cricket and horse racing.  He finds a little time to do DIY on
Saturday afternoons and Sundays, otherwise, you will find him at the store.
All of Barry’s working life has been in Hardware.  He retells the of a day when it all began by chance.  He was biking into town to see a girl when someone he knew yelled out to him
“Are you looking for work?”.   Having just finished school, he yelled “Yes” to which the man yelled back “You start Monday”! After this informal introduction to Briscoes, which was then a hardware and importing business, Barry worked for Ramset Fasteners in Hamilton and Wellington before coming back to Christchurch in 1990. Being in the hardware business, Barry and Sal have been privy to a steady stream of post-earthquake stories. Their tone saddens as they speak of the number of clients still waiting to have repairs done, but worse still is the number of clients coming in to buy supplies to repair the EQC work that has been done on their homes.  The shop, currently filled with painters, draping drop sheets and ladders, is also finally getting its repairs done. On a brighter note, Barry admits the earthquakes have had positive spin offs for Halswell businesses and the Halswell community.  They both agree that they love the spaciousness of the area and the friendly people that live here.
Words: Deb Harding-Browne

Familiar Faces: Kate Cleverly

Kate Cleverly is a familiar face in Halswell as she has been the organiser of many of the local community events over the last decade or so.  Think youth events such as Fusion, Blast Off, The Light Party, Skate Jam and community events such as The Halswell Market and The Halswell Dance; the central organiser behind them all is Kate.

Hailing originally from Wiltshire, England, Kate and her husband Jason and children Aimee and Matthew were drawn to Christchurch because of family connections; Kate’s Kiwi Granddad originated from Banks Peninsula.   While on holiday here, they were taken by the spacious surroundings and applied for residency. They decided to settle in Halswell because of the fact that “ it was close to the city centre but it still felt like a small town. There are lots of wide open spaces and you can easily get out into the countryside. You don’t have to go far and you are biking down a little leafy lane, and there is also a lot going on for kids here” enthuses Kate.

Community work has not always been the path that Kate has taken. On leaving school, she started out building computers in her Dad’s computing  business, then she worked as a data analyst in drug trialling.  Following that, she taught high school science for five years in the UK and four years here at Cashmere High School.  Kate stopped teaching after her son Matthew was born and as he got older, became the Children’s Youth Worker at Halswell Baptist Church. Since late 2013, Kate has worked as the Halswell Community Coordinator for the Halswell Community Project.

Community work for Kate became a passionate interest for her as she realised that the socialisation provided by the local hotel didn’t exist here in the way that it did in England,
which is less about a drinking culture and more about being a meeting place. However, after speaking to Kate for a while you begin to realise within her community focus is   a deep-seated desire to accommodate the youth in society. Anything with a youth focus is close to her heart and if you look at the events that she has organised, there is always a strong child and youth focus to it.  She credits this to feeling like a bit of an outsider when she was a child.  She feels compelled to make sure everyone has a sense of belonging, especially young people.

Some developments that Kate would love to encourage in Halswell are “more places for the young people to hang out, more youth involved in the decision-making process, more
ways to bring families together and to see all the schools working together”.  Although, she says, “But I also think Halswell is pretty cool as it is”.

Kate’s family is also a high priority for her.  Kate’s husband Jason, incidentally, is also well-known in this area as he worked as a much-loved pre-school teacher at “The Lighthouse” for several years.  Aimee and Matthew keep Kate busy with lots of after school lessons. As
 a family, they like to go to church, play board games, go biking, and get into the outdoors. Juggling a busy home and work schedule, Kate has been described by friends as “little dynamo” as she seems to take it all in her stride.  And Halswell, especially its younger population, has certainly been very fortunate to have some of Kate’s focus and energy directed its way.

Familiar Faces: Chrys Horn

Chrys Horn is well known to many Halswell people because of her work with the Halswell Community Project which began in 2010 with the first Halwell E-Newsletter, just prior to the Earthquakes.
After she connected with a few like-minded people, the HCP was formed officially in early 2012. Today, we would be without the Halswell monthly E-letter and  printed newsletter, the website, the blog, the community garden, the community market, and the welcome bags had she not had that vision six years ago. There has been a remarkable amount achieved in a short time thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with the HCP.
Chrys' love for this area has come from growing up here and her work here has most likely come about because she came from a family who modelled strong community values. Chrys' mum (Philippa) was involved in Brownies, Guides, the Halswell Swimming Club and started up the Halswell Library. Philippa still works for St Mary's Anglican church, mostly in Prebbleton, these days.
Chrys has worked  in a variety of places and jobs around New Zealand, with seasons of study in between.  After high school,  Chrys completed a science degree majoring in Botany at Canterbury University.  From there she went to Gore and for the next 6-7 years, Chrys tried her hand at tailing, woolshed rousing, and working as a hut warden, for DOC in Glenorchy, and in the Youth Hostels Association in various places in the lower South Island. It was here that  Chrys built a house with her partner.  Canterbury began to beckon again, when she moved here with her partner.  She enrolled at Lincoln University, and ended up staying longer than she had anticipated completing a Masters degree and then a Ph.D in Social Science.  She then worked for Landcare Research for a few years, working to see how communities could manage their natural resources and deal with environmental change.
Inspiration to start community work in Halswell came to Chrys because she had been working in many  other people’s communities while at Landcare Research and felt that she should do some work in her own community.  Her professional work made her aware that communities everywhere will have to change and need to be resilient to weather shocks such as drought flood, wind and so on,  that are occurring because of climate change. Of course, as we all learned, building resilience is also important for managing earthquakes as well.  The Halswell Community Project is Chrys' brainchild and all of the projects under its umbrella have been started with the intention of building closer social and economic connections here.
Chrys feels all of the projects are going well, although she would like to see more people involved in them. Her vision has also been inclusive.  She tries to work alongside other long established community groups such as schools, sports clubs, churches and the Halswell Residents Association.  Chrys wants to build a stronger Halswell, and living in a post-earthquake city, few would argue with this aspiration. Chrys, who is seen biking far more often than driving, would like to see a more walkable, bikeable community – something that she thinks would mean fewer traffic jams for those who need to use their cars.  On top of that good walking and biking opportunities makes places more attractive and means that people are likely to meet and talk to each other more often.  It also makes a community safer to get around for all that live there.
Working in a part time job at the Addington Timebank, Chrys is  developing a Halswell branch. Again, the idea behind the Timebank is to build a resilient community.  The Timebank is a good way to connect people with each other and find what skills are available locally. Chrys also works as a social scientist and does contract research for a range of organisations.   When Chrys is not working she likes to read, walk, bike and spend time with friends.
Most definitely a person of vision and action, Chrys Horn has helped to make this community far more connected and more of a home for us all and a place with a much stronger identity than it would have had otherwise.

Words: Deb Harding-Browne

Familiar Faces: Allan and Joyce Cleave

Allan and Joyce Cleave are familiar faces in Halswell in that they have lived here for 57 years and have been hugely involved in helping the Halswell community.

Allan and Joyce arrived in Halswell as in 1958 and lived in Checketts Avenue for 35 years. Halswell was considered a country area then and they built the house. When they arrived, there was one shop with a petrol bowser, St Mary's Anglican, the Catholic church and Oaklands school. They made good friends with their neighbours with whom they are still good friends today.

They raised four children here: daughters Linda and Eleanor and sons Bruce and Roger. Sadly, they have lived through the loss their daughter Eleanor who was taken with cancer at the age of thirty-nine and the death of one grandchild involved in a car accident at the age of nineteen. Bruce and Roger and families live in Halswell and Linda and her husband live in Rolleston and they have a total of ten grandchildren.

Allan worked for the railways for thirty years, delivered the mail for two and a half years in Halswell and then managed the Salvation Army thrift furniture and clothing shops with Joyce in Addington and Halswell. Joyce's ties with the Salvation army were early, as she was one of eleven children. When her father was killed, her mum turned to the Salvation Army for help.  Allan became involved when he wished to go out on a date with Joyce and she took him to church instead!

The list of their voluntary work positions is endless and includes cooking at 156 Salvation Army camps for children and teaching Sunday School for fifteen years. They also lead for three years, sang in church choirs, and held positions of leadership in the church for thirty-five years. voluntary work was with the Friends of Resthaven,  the Civil Defence and the police. They have also delivered meals for the Sallies and the Lions, of which Allan is also a member. For years, Allan organised the annual Red Shield Appeal and for over fifty years, he has delivered the Salvation Army magazine 'War Cry' to pubs.

Allan has won prestigious awards for his hours of community service including the Caltex Unsung Hero Award (2000) and the American worldwide Lions award: the Melvin Jones Fellow for dedicated humanitarian services. Allan will tell you that he has done everything with the blessing and full support of Joyce. “We did everything together,” says Joyce. When asked how they find the time to do all this, Joyce “Without the Lord's help we wouldn't have been able to do any of it.”

In the last few years, they have moved to a smaller home, closer to buses and the supermarket. Joyce says that while they have been very busy in their lives, they are enjoying taking things easier now and are taking family trips such as the one soon to Auckland to see a granddaughter. Joyce loves to point out her lovely array of family photos and is called Nana Joyce by her grandchildren but also by many of the local children. She loves to give out hugs and says “People need hugs; people need love.” Another indicator that their heart has always been about people. Joyce also enjoys cross stitching and has made huge tapestries. On her wall unit, there are traditionally decorated eggs and hand-painted porcelain ornaments. Joyce has been involved in craft groups in Halswell for years, and it is a source of great joy for her. And out and about, you might bump into Allan dropping the Salvation Army magazine in the pubs, collecting money for the Sallies outside Halswell New World, at the Lions club or being Father Christmas least two Halswell events.

On a final note, when asked what they thought of post-earthquake Halswell, they affirmed that they like living here, “It feels safe and the people are friendly.” They still go for walks and bump into people to chat to. Their advice for people new people moving into the area is “Get to know your neighbours.”

WORDS: Deb Harding-Browne