A Snapshot of Ten Days in Tauranga, "Ten Days in Tauranga" 10-20 April 2011, Details of the "Ten Days in Tauranga" project, Message from MP Simon Bridges and Mayor Stuart Crosby,
Ten days in Tauranga has drawn to a close, with each of our 50 families farewelled and returned safely back home to Christchurch.
The feedback we received from the families has been fantastic and they are overwhelmed by the generosity of the Tauranga community.
Some of the things they enjoyed are the things we take for granted, like sleeping through the night without fear of after shocks, and having access to working toilets and showers.
All of the activities, accommodation, and transport offered to our visitors were generously donated. Ten Days would not have been possible without this support from the community.
Click here to see at how some of the families spent their ‘Ten Days’ and the kind words they left behind for the people of Tauranga. Or, visit the Ten Days in Tauranga facebook page to see more messages and support from both the Christchurch and Tauranga communities.
The feedback from Tauranga people involved in this trip has also been overwhelmingly positive. As one person said, ‘we donated money to the relief fund, but through ‘Ten Days’ we’ve actually been able to feel like we are physically doing something to help’.
People here have appreciated the chance to do whatever they can to make the trip memorable for our visitors.
And it was certainly action packed – donated activities included day trips to local tourist hot spots, rugby, 4x4 rides, kayaking, fishing, surfing lessons, harbour cruising, visiting adventure parks, swimming, shopping, dining, makeovers, family portraits, movies, blo karting, golfing…the list goes on!
And not only were activities donated – we had willing chefs all around the city providing delicious baking and meals for families throughout the ten days!
We have so many people to thank for making Ten Days so special, which we will do over the coming weeks.
There are around 180 Christchurch people arriving from Sunday 10 April to begin their gift of ‘Ten Days in Tauranga”.
These people are the lucky recipients of the Ten Days in Tauranga offer put forward to the people of Christchurch by Tauranga MP Simon Bridges and Mayor Stuart Crosby. Out of the 400+ household nominations for the gift of a holiday in Tauranga and the western bay, 50 households were drawn by ballot.
Each winning household has been offered free flights, accommodation and a list of activities to choose from - including tickets to the Crusaders vs Chiefs game at Baypark on Friday 15 April (tickets kindly donated by the Chiefs franchise).
Air New Zealand Holiday Store have generously arranged a ‘free’ 68 seat charter flight. Simon Bridges and Stuart Crosby have been approaching key people and businesses in the community and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the Ten Days project by making a donation towards the remainder of the airfares.
Accommodation has been provided by numerous motels and holiday parks plus private homes and baches have been given. Matching up the winners with the appropriate accommodation, their transport needs, and the activities they want to participate in, has been a logistical challenge and work now is focused on ensuring each individual winner is matched up correctly. There are people who need to be with others and some who just need to be alone. There are those who have lost loved ones and those who are injured. There are people with babies and some people in their 80s. There are single people, married people, working and not working. There are families who have lost everything and some who say ‘but we only lost a job and the power, water and sewage - there are people far more deserving than me…’. There are active people who want to do everything on offer and those who are happy just to be billeted with ‘someone who has a nice garden I can potter about in’.
Contact with the winning recipients has been extremely sensitive and highly personal due to the experiences and grief some of our recipients have faced. Many recipients are still suffering from the effects and aftermath. These people will genuinely need taking care of and the “Ten Days” team are incredibly grateful for all the support and kindness that is being shown by the people of Tauranga for them.
Stuart Crosby and Simon Bridges will meet our visitors at a City Reception on Sunday 10 April at Classic Flyers (from 5pm). This invitation is also open to Christchurch people already in Tauranga.
"Ten Days in Tauranga" was a project to bring 50 'households'* up to Tauranga for ten days holiday, completely free of charge, from 10-20 April. The idea of this is to provide some small relief for those who have suffered greatly, or who have helped amazingly, following the tragic events of past weeks.
The “Ten Days” project is being led by Simon Bridges, local Tauranga Member of Parliament, and Stuart Crosby, Mayor of Tauranga.
The reasons for doing the project are two-fold: to share Tauranga’s compassion, support and generosity with the people from Christchurch to provide the people of Tauranga (and Western Bay) with a positive focus for their desire to help.
There are two categories of people who can be nominated:
1. those who have suffered significant loss as a result of the earthquake
2. those who have done amazing and tireless things to support the people in their street, community, area.
The selection of the 50 ‘households’ will be by ballot.
The holiday days straddle one week before school holidays and one week of school holidays so parents can bring their children without losing too much school.
Recipients of the “Ten Days” ballot will receive free travel, accommodation, transport, entertainment – including tickets to attend Chiefs/Crusaders game at Baypark Stadium on the 15th April – and lots of restful, relaxing and fun things to do.
We will draw the ballot on the 30th March and then organise the travel, accommodation and activity requirements for our visitors.
The people of Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty of Plenty have been considering how to support the people of Christchurch. This outpouring of 'support' has already resulted in hundreds of offers of accommodation, food, transport, fundraising events and even concerts.
Since there is already a very good system of enabling assistance to be given to those in need, through the Civil Defence welfare coordination team, many of the offers of help we have received have already been passed onto them.
However the sheer volume and variety of offers led us to consider what we could do for victims that is further out in time (when they may be even more exhausted than now) and something that is uniquely Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.
A holiday.
So we have joined forces to invite people who want to participate in this initiative - over the ten days - by providing 'free' services via this Facebook page. Alternatively you can call 07 577 7000 to register your interest.
Everyone in New Zealand has been touched in some way by this tragic event and everyone we meet wants to offer something (no matter how small) to show how much they care. Maybe by contributing something to the Ten Days in Tauranga you will be able to meet the need in your heart as well as the need of someone who has suffered through this terrible tragedy.
Your support is appreciated,
Simon Bridges MP
Mayor Stuart Crosby
Last Reviewed: 20/02/2012