Roskill South continues to prove itself a great place to be, this time as the community gathered for Love Your Hood – an end-of-year celebration that attracted nearly 200 neighbours, friends and whānau.

Local agencies, businesses and the community teamed up to host the event on 19 December at Turners Reserve, to give thanks to residents for a busy year and celebrate the neighbourhood’s achievements.

The team from Roskill Development and Kāinga Ora was there to show its support, including by handing out Christmas goodie bags to children who took part in a survey organised by community partner Roskill Together. The questions were a chance for youngsters to share their views on the activities they’d like to have available at their Tuesday night get-togethers in 2024.

“Kāinga Ora also provided support by mentoring a group of local youth leaders to run the event”, says Karla Beazley, Kāinga Ora Community Development and Engagement Coordinator.

“This was their first time using the new event management skills they picked up, and we’re really proud of how they went,” Karla says.

“They’ll receive continued support from Roskill Development and our community partners, and there’ll be more events to follow!”

Despite a forecast for rain, the weather held out to make sure children could enjoy facepainting or – for anyone interested in a little pampering – to have Global Sisterhood paint their nails.

There were Christmas bike rides with the team from Communities Feeding Communities, which also donated drinks so eventgoers could wash down the Christmas cake, chop suey, rice and halal sausages on offer.

“It was great to see so many local families and our team getting involved and having so much fun,” Karla says.