Well, the shortest day has passed and now the days are imperceptibly longer.  The belief that our worst winter weather comes after the shortest day has come true this year.  The storms have arrived!

Some of us love this time of the year, with the cold and the promise of spring.  Others feel the lack of sunshine and become overwhelmed by the continues drab.  Some of us are afraid of the increased power bills and live in temperatures that are too cold to stay well. There are many hazards to consider – icy paths, slippery steps, damp houses, damp clothes, heating hazards eg: burns from heaters of hot water bottles.  This can be a difficult time for many of us. Please look out for each other and yourselves.  Stay warm and stay safe.

Our next committee meeting is this week.  Currently we are focusing on several matters:

• The Ashgrove reserve: a working bee to be organised for September, an arborist review of the trees.  See in our upcoming Newsletter for further details.
• The Opawaho/Heathcote River Network is seeking to become an Incorporated Society. The Steering Committee has drafted a constitution to be presented to the next meeting on July 29th.
• The Red Cross has set up some of their Earthquake Fund money for a South West Christchurch initiative aimed to help communities in this area to be better prepared and better connected.  There are several avenues for this, ranging from group activities and ‘road shows’ to courses for individuals to help with resilience.  We will keep you informed as details become available.
• SCERT (Somerfield-Lower Cashmere Emergency Response Team) we are continuing our work on the initiative to provide a drop-in centre if needed in an emergency. This will be based at St Mark’s Church on Barrington St.

We will keep you updated as these matters progress.  Details are in our newsletters which are available on this site.  These are our ways of keeping you informed.  Please fell free to read.

Do feel free to contact us with comments or suggestions.  We are proud of our wonderful community.