Hello Project - www.thehelloproject.nz

Krissy Neighbourly Lead from Tikipunga

Look out for your neighbours. Check in if something seems awry. Save lives of the 180,000 elderly Kiwis who live alone.
180,000 elderly live alone in Aotearoa who need the support of their neighbours and loved ones to keep an eye on them. The Hello Project was created to encourage Kiwis to not only look out for each other, but to make a plan and get to know the warning signs when something might be wrong. Because if something looks wrong, it usually is. It’s knowing the warning signs that can save a life.

On 8 September 2021, the reality struck close to home for Greg Partington, the Founder of the Hello Project, when he found his mother, Mary, lying on her kitchen floor. She’d suffered a debilitating stroke to the left side of her brain. Distressed, hurt and unable to move, she lay there alone for 20 hours. Not through any lack of care, but there were signals that all was not well. Her home lights were blaring all night as was the TV. She died in hospital 8 days later.


In loving memory of Mary Josephone Partington.