For the past 12 years, my husband and I have opened our home several times a year to invite our neighbours in. In the winter we usually hold a big soup event, and in the summer we have organised a variety of party events, including an ice cream social on Canada Day, a musician’s party, a free giveaway party, and a gardener’s party! As a result of these efforts I know 100 of my neighbours and we continue to reap the harvest of these relationships.
In December 2016 The Irish Times published an article I wrote about this experience, which was picked up a few days later by the Huffington Post who did a video interview of me . I’ve had lots of positive responses from both articles, and the last time I checked there were 14,000 views of the Huffington Post interview! My hope is that articles like these will inspire others to reach out to their neighbours and connect. Here are the two links: