European Neighbours Day

In 2010, the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) supported Members to celebrate the first European Neighbours day in Ireland. Following the success of last years events the ICSH will continue to encourage over 300 Members to hold an event in 2011 with residents in local communities around Ireland. Events which have been held in the past have been coffee mornings, open days, music sessions, barbeques, storytelling, tea parties, family day, face painting, dancing and much more.

This day will provide an opportunity to promote the work of the Housing Association sector where ICSH members are now active in over 500 urban and rural local communities through the country and will help make the link between Housing Associations in Ireland and their wider community benefit.

Aim of Neighbours Day

Neighbours Day was created in Paris in 1999 to tackle apathy and fear on estates and in cities. By 2003 the event had turned into a European day with Belgium and then Switzerland joining in. Last year the event had mushroomed with 9 million people living in 29 countries taking part and celebrating Neighbours Day.

Neighbours Day aims to encourage neighbours to get to know each other and build a sense of community. By meeting each other at an informal celebratory event Neighbours Day improves the way people live together and helps instill community cohesion. Neighbours Day focuses on developing contact between people who live together. It is a great way to improve neighbourhoods and enable everyone, from private residents to social housing tenants, from elected councillors to business people, from public sector services to third sector association representatives to take an active part in their community.

Six top reasons for taking part in Neighbours Day

• 1. Neighbours Day with its focus on community cohesion and promotes the campaign outside its social housing context;
• 2. Neighbours Day enables a variety of stakeholders such as councillors, landlords businesses and residents to work together around a positive project developing contacts and building
• 3. Neighbours Day enables housing associations to develop better relationships with their residents engaging with them and increasing their profile in a positive way;
• 4. Neighbours Day encourages people to get to know and talk to each other. It creates better conditions for living together and helps reduce incidents of anti social behaviour;
• 5. Neighbours Day links housing sssociations with a public event which has a wide audience and positively promotes their image to the wider community.

Registration fee

The ICSH have negotiated a discounted fee for ICSH Members.

• Small Housing Association, less than 500 units: €50
• Medium-sized, less than 5000 units: €100
• Large Housing Association, more than 5000 units: €200

Please see the attached registration form here for more details.

Top tips for a successful day

1) Obtain the support of all key stakeholders

a) Enthuse your local Councillors

Neighbours Day is a tool that enables exchanges and discussions to take place between people from all walks of life. To create maximum impact get buy-in from local councillors using values such as solidarity and community cohesion.

b) Make use of local networks to spread the word

Networks both informal and formal are a great way to spread the message and make sure everyone knows about the day. Use resident associations, schools, the local council, business networks etc.

2) Draft a risk assessment plan

Make sure you have all the necessary licences and permissions to hold an event on the day.

3) Advertise the event

Make sure you start communicating with residents well in advance .Target a number of audiences using different methods:

Use a poster/flyer campaign - put them in public spaces, local businesses such as shops, schools, post offices and wherever allowed.

Use local media such as the Council’s and housing associations websites and mailing lists, local newsletters and press.

As well as advertising the event itself let people how they can help get involved in helping with the organisation.

Make sure people know where they can pick up supplies of publicity material to help spread the word. Use local council and housing association offices.

Distribute flyers door to door and through local resident associations.

Put posters up in hall ways and entrances to blocks.

Talk to the Press – a press pack is provided to housing associations which can then be adapted to local needs. As well as distributing the press pack to local media as a press release,

think about holding a press conference.

Keep the ICSH in the loop, co-ordinate press, photos and advise on community event ideas.

4) Get residents involved

a) Before the event
Organise meetings to bring together those willing to get involved. Invite local politicians and resident representatives. Provide information on Neighbours Day. Show the ‘Best of Neighbours Day’ DVD. Get them to identify the best place for a party or festival and who will be the organisers. Find ways how the local council and housing association can support those willing to take part in organising the event. Have material available for people to take away or direct them to the www.european-neighbours-day.eu website so they can download more.

b) During the event
Although the councils and housing associations should support the event, the main aim is to get local residents to organise it themselves. Get them to take on lead roles and talk to their neighbours about it. Councils and housing associations could then organise a bigger event on the day to attract press publicity.

c) After the event
Get feedback from the organisers and participants. Collect as many photographs as you can which can be used to help build support for next year’s event. Thank those who got involved.

d) Housing associations can send press releases and photos to the ICSH to promote their event.

The Communication Kit

1) The poster

This is available in 3 formats: 30/40; 40/60; 120/176. The poster can be hung in schools, local businesses and in public spaces.

2) The flyer

The flyer is used to inform residents about the event. It will tell them what the day is about and how to organise their own parties. It should be made available in housing association and

local council reception areas, distributed at markets, schools, G.P. surgeries, places of worship etc.

3) The small poster

The small poster can be distributed to residents and tenants who have volunteered to become organisers. It can be put up in entrances to blocks etc and has a space where the details such

as the time date and location of events can be added.

4) The postcard

This should be made available to Neighbours Day organisers. They are used to provide neighbours with details of the event and can be distributed door to door through letterboxes.

5) Other promotional tools

Other promotional tools which have been previously used include t-shirts for organisers; balloons with logos printed on them; stickers to wear as a badge.

The communication kit is available on cd-rom and includes all of the above in jpeg, or PDF format.

6) Contact Information

To find out more on how ICSH Members can get involved please contact Margaret Coleman, ICSH Development Officer margaretcoleman@icsh.ie or 01 6618334.