Men’s Sheds are well-known as a place of belonging and connection which is why it was a no brainer when it came to joining Relationships Australia as a Very Neighbourly Organisation for their Neighbours Every Day campaign.
Neighbours Every Day is about empowering everyone in Australia to build respectful and supportive relationships with the people they call ‘neighbours’. Neighbours can include our immediate neighbours, people in our broader communities, and others with whom we share common interests and mutual support. And what better place than one of underpinning community hubs of any neighbourhood, the Men’s Shed?
To celebrate AMSA becoming a Very Neighbourly Organisation, we have 15 Neighbour Day packs for Men’s Sheds interested in hosting a Shed Open Day to celebrate the Neighbour Day national day of action.
Downloads
The Shed Open Day packs are supported by AMSA partner AEP through their Brighter with Natural Gas campaign.
What is Neighbours Every Day & Neighbour Day (30 March)?
Neighbours Every Day is Relationships Australia’s social connection campaign: a leading Australian campaign promoting the benefits of social connection and building capacity for all to make and maintain respectful relationships.
Neighbours Every Day is about empowering everyone in Australia to build respectful and supportive relationships with the people they call ‘neighbours’. Neighbours can include our immediate neighbours, people in our broader communities, and others with whom we share common interests and mutual support.
Neighbour Day is a national day of action that provides the perfect opportunity to increase social connection in your local areas. You can celebrate in a variety of ways including hosting or supporting events that assist and engage your communities.
Why get involved?
Social isolation and loneliness can affect any person at any stage of life. While loneliness is a normal human emotion, strong social connections can help protect you from chronically experiencing these feelings. Chronic loneliness can affect your mental, emotional and physical health. While the answers to loneliness may not be straightforward, having a variety of respectful relationships is fundamental to creating more resilient individuals and communities. Neighbours Every Day promotes the importance of these connections, every day of the year.
Strong social connections take effort. To truly reap the benefits of social connection, you must feel like you belong. Belonging is the sense of safety and comfort you feel when you are accepted for who you are. It’s more than inclusion, it’s an authentic acceptance which leaves you feeling both connected and supported. There are a range of ways that we can all work to create and share belonging, both for ourselves and for those in our communities.
Creating and sharing belonging by building and maintaining respectful relationships can change communities and has a positive effect on people’s wellbeing.
Independent evaluations show that people who get involved in the campaign have improved mental health, wellbeing and sustained reductions in loneliness. Some key outcomes of the independent evaluations show:
- Those who got involved in the campaign are protected against the mental ill-health effects of the pandemic (2021).
- Participation leads to significant reductions in loneliness that were still present six months on from the campaign (2020).
- Neighbour Day participation was associated with people having wider and larger social networks, and more frequent occasions and time spent socialising (2021).
- The campaign increases neighbourhood identification – the sense of belonging you feel when you connect with your community (2021, 2020).
- Neighbourhood identification is the key to reductions in loneliness and social cohesion (2021).
- Neighbourhood identification has also mediated wellbeing during COVID-19 lockdowns (2021).
- Improvements in relationships with your community led to greater relationship satisfaction across all types of relationships (eg. family, friends, colleagues) (2021).
- These benefits were felt equally by everyone. Benefits of the campaign were the same across different ages, genders, educational background, relationship status, employment status, socioeconomic background and between those highly involved versus those casually involved (2021).
By getting involved you can:
- Help raise awareness about loneliness and tangibly address loneliness across Australian communities.
- Improve your own and others’ mental health. Create resilient communities which cope better during collective change or crisis.
- Foster respectful relationships every day of the year. Meet new people, grow your network and nurture previous connections.
- Create communities which generate a sense of belonging for everyone. Creating and sharing belonging is an opportunity to reflect on what we can do better. Belonging doesn’t always come easily. True inclusion and lasting connection takes consideration and practice.
About Relationships Australia
Relationships Australia is a leading provider of relationship support services for individuals, families and communities. We aim to support all people in Australia to achieve positive and respectful relationships.
Relationships Australia is the home of, and owns all related intellectual property in, Neighbours Every Day and Neighbour Day.
Neighbours Every Day is Relationships Australia’s social connection campaign. A leading Australian campaign promoting the benefits of social connection and building capacity for everyone in Australia to make and maintain respectful relationships.
Neighbours Every Day is the next evolution of the Neighbour Day campaign, which has operated in Australia since 2003, promoting the benefits of well-connected and resilient communities.
