Neighbour Day is always held on the last Sunday in March – but don’t wait until then to talk to your neighbours!

 

The aim is to encourage everyone to have better relationships with the people next door and across the street. To develop a greater sense of community caring, especially to look after the vulnerable and elderly who live alone.

 

Whether you are in the city, in a town or on a farm anyone can participate.

 

Unlike other awareness days you don’t make a donation, buy a badge or a ribbon or wear a silly hat. All you do is introduce yourself to the people next door and across the street … or on the next property.

 

By introducing yourself and passing on your name and telephone numbers you are helping to break down the barriers of loneliness and isolation experienced by many older people.

 

Many people choose to live alone but that doesn’t mean they should be forgotten. The elderly are particularly at risk and that’s why it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for them.  Neighbour Day is also for young people too - especially international students or country kids who move to the city to go to university.

 

Make sure they know they can call on you in an emergency or personal crisis. It doesn’t seem such a big issue for younger people but older people often don’t want to be thought of as a burden or a problem. So they try and ‘get by’ with their problem rather than seek help.

 

Logo

The logo for Neighbour Day was created by Melbourne designer Dianne Treble. The circle represents the global aims of Neighbour Day while the lower-case ‘n’ represents both the day’s name and a home – the focus for developing harmonious communities.

 

The bold yet simple design and striking colour is intended to be instantly recognisable and easy to reproduce while promoting a direct link to the website.

 

About Andrew Heslop

Andrew Heslop

Founder - Neighbour Day

Image - Michael Silver/Photonet

 

Andrew Heslop has followed a family heritage of being an active part of the community.

 

At eight he joined the renowned primary school based program Junior Red Cross which taught him the values of volunteerism and participation, in line with the global organisation’s seven fundamental principles – humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, unity, voluntary service and universality.

 

At 17 he started volunteering as a collector for the annual Red Cross Calling doorknock appeal while attending Northfield High School in Adelaide.

 

Andrew was his school’s representative on the local youth council, co-ordinated federal International Youth Year funding to set up a radio station on campus, was elected secretary of the fundraising committee and then managed the school’s participation in the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations.

 

Today Andrew is still a member and volunteer of Australian Red Cross. He served as a Board Member of the former Victorian Relief Committee until it was disbanded and was Chairman of the annual Winter Blanket Appeal over three years. In the appeal’s 71st year in 2005 Andrew encouraged Victorians to donate 10,000 new blankets to warm the state’s homeless and underprivileged.

 

Andrew is an accomplished marketing communications executive and media spokesman. In Sydney he has represented the Rail Corporation of New South Wales - the NSW Government operator of passenger rail services under the CityRail and CountryLink brands; TransdevTSL - as operator of the Yarra Trams franchise in Melbourne; The University of Melbourne, British Red Cross and Australian Red Cross.

 

Awards & Nominations

Andrew was nominated for the Australian of the Year Award in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008 he was also nominated within the Commonwealth Bank Local Hero Awards as part of the judging process for the Australian of the Year Award. 

 

He was a semi-finalist for the 2006 Australia Post Events and Tourism Award at the Regional Achievement and Community Awards sponsored by The Weekly Times and Prime Television.

 

In 2007 Andrew was nominated for a Melbourne Award within the Individual Contribution to Community category for raising the international profile of The City of Melbourne through the development of Neighbour Day. 

 

Andrew was invited to participate as a Samsung Torch Relay Ambassador during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay through Canberra on Thursday 24th April 2008 in recognition of his community involvement Media Release

 

In May 2008 Andrew spoke at the United Nations headquarters in New York about the global development of Neighbour Day, which has grown from a simple idea expressed in a letter to the editor to become a national community event Presentation

 

Following Andrew's presentation to the United Nations, Neighbour Day was a finalist at the 2008 Melbourne Awards within the Individual Contribution to Community category for the global promotion of Melbourne.

 

 

The Neighbour Day logo and slogan are registered trademarks.