Your Catchment Group Coordinator
For more info, or to join the catchment group contact Ginny
Ginny Kennedy
021914765
ginny@thrivingsouthland.co.nz
Group Co-Chairs
Peter Sim
Angela Reid
Alex Field
June 2024 - Wetland visit to Dot and Jeff Stevens beautiful man-made wetland
June 2024 - Winter wellbeing event held at the Lumsden Hall with guest speaker Jack Cocks, talking about resilience in the farming world, and Hamish McMurdo from Recycle South.
July 2023 – Community lunch event to brainstorm ideas for what next for the group
June 2023 – Winter Wellbeing event at Mossburn with netballer Wendy Frew and the Southland Rural Support Trust
May 2023 – Balewrap Recycling and collection Pilot launch (ran through until August 2023)
December 2022 – Launch of the project booklet and wetland Field Day at Five Rivers
November 2022 – The group won an ES Award for Environmental Action in Water Quality
July 2022 – Winter Wellbeing Event with Derek Daniell from Wairere Rams and Tom Slee from Surfing for Farmers
June 2023 – Wetland Planting afternoon at project wetland site
December 2021 – celebrated the end of the year with a community planting session and BBQ
July 2021 – held the first Wellbeing speaker event with Prof Keith Woodward and Dr Murray Pfieffer
2021 – saw the start of two major projects
Balewrap Recycling Project – ‘Providing a link in the bale wrap chain’ in conjunction with AgRecovery
Understanding the dynamics of the Catchment project which involved 3 work streams
Catchment Landholder Survey
Wetland siting, designs and costings in conjunction with NIWA
Between the Domes Catchment Booklet
December 2020 – Ran a Christmas Wetlands Tour
November 2020 – Hosted Roger Dalrymple for a ‘Strong Catchment Groups, Strong Communities’ Event
Early 2020 – Discussions began around project ideas and funding which resulted in the groups big project Understanding and Improving Catchment with Wetland Development
December 2019 – Hosted the official launch of Thriving Southland
May 2019 – field day focusing on Intensive Winter Grazing
November 2018 – field day looking at the impact of farm management on extensive hill country and possible solutions
July 2018 – community meeting to build engagement and decide direction
Wellbeing Evenings
Winter 2024 - Jack Cocks & Hamish McMurdo
Knowing your purpose, connecting and taking care of your wellbeing. These are all steps that help set you up to be resilient and allow you to thrive in the face of adversity, according to Kellogg scholar Jack Cocks. Jack joined the group at the end of June to share his story, following a near death experience, which started his own journey of resilience and sparked his interest in this area. He went on to undertake a Kellogg project looking at ‘How Resilient Farmers Thrive in the Face of Adversity’. His interactive presentation had the room engaged and thinking about their own purpose and resilience, and how they might be able to enhance this.
Following a delicious supper we then heard from Hamish McMurdo who shared the inspiring story of Recycle South, from supporting employees with disabilities to recycling balewrap right here in Southland. Between the Domes have been big supporters of the recycling initiative and it was great to have Hamish join them for this fun social evening.
Winter 2023 – Wendy Frew and Southland Rural Support Trust
Following on from the two previous successful winter events the group decided to share the love with a change of venue to the Mossburn Community Centre. They also joined up with the Southland Rural Support Trust with the aim of also being able to raise some money for them on the night.
Netball legend Wendy Frew was our speaker for the night and entertained us with her story, from a humble southland upbringing to national and international fame with the Southern Steel and Silver Ferns. We were also joined by Rachael Nicholson and Lindsay Wright who shared about the role of the Southland Rural Support Trust and the awesome work they do in the community.
Chair Peter Sim had gathered an amazing array of raffle prizes from some very generous local sponsors and the group were delighted to donate the proceeds from this to Rachael and Lindsay on the night. Thanks to the sponsors of these raffles Hanks Place, Silver Fern Farms, Vet South (Lumsden Shop), Northern Southland Transport, Rabobank and Pios Fiodh (Tom Law).
Winter 2022 – Derek Daniell & Tom Slee
This year the group invited Derek Daniell from Wairere Rams to share his farming journey and thoughts on the state of agriculture, followed by local boy Tom Slee to talk about his involvement in Surfing for Farmers, and his recent experience taking part in the Godzone Adventure Race.
Another well attended event organised by the group. It was great to hear from group leaders Jim Andrew and Laurie Selbie regarding what the group has been up to over the last year and hear some snippets of the results from the groups big catchment survey. Watch this space for more details on this with a field day coming later in the year.
Winter 2021 – Prof. Keith Woodford & Dr Murray Pfiefer
The group invited well respected Professor Keith Woodford to present to the group on greenhouse gasses and agriculture. And then heard from Dr Murray Pfiefer in his role as Chair of the Southland Charity hospital about its reasons for being, and the inspirational way the community has taken matters into their own hands to make a difference.
This was a really well attended informative evening and a great excuse to leave the house on a cold winters night.
Making the news
In 2022 the group won the Environment Southland Award for Environmental Action in Water Quality, this award recognised their achievements as a well establish group and the great work that went into their project Understanding and Improving the Catchment with Wetland Development. A well deserved celebration for this hard working group.
Thriving Southland is a community-led group with a vision to create a prosperous Southland, healthy people, healthy environment from the mountains to the sea.
CONTACT US
25 Don Street,
Invercargill 9810
