On Friday 1^st November over 80 people gathered at the Tai Tapu Community Centre to celebrate prize winners, receive certificates, and hear citations regarding the excellent work of all the businesses who participated in the 2024 Selwyn Responsible Business Awards.

The proceedings started by thanking the supporters of the project largely financed by Selwyn District Council Waste Management. Lincoln New World sponsored much of the food and Rossendale wines did the same for the wine all prepared by volunteers from Selwyn Lions. The major thanks of the evening were to the 62 participating enterprises for their initiatives surrounding the environmental impacts and the community involvement associated with their activities.

The awards are seen as a way of encouraging businesses to think sustainably, reward and celebrate their endeavours and the process is very much geared towards discussions of the issues associated with trying to be as environmentally sustainable as possible and how to benefit the wider community.

The event itself was most enjoyable. Councillor Sophie McInnes presented the certificates and trophies to the many participating businesses who attended, and the assessors’ citations made clear the commendable work being done. 

The evening was enhanced by two excellent guest speaker presentations; Frank Haakart told us of the journey to restore the earthquake damaged pub in Hororata and establish the “Artists In” project of converting the building into a rural place of art learning and exhibition.

Wim de Koning from Lincoln University outlined the exciting plans for the Solar Farm in Lincoln and we at Lincoln Envirotown look forward to joining the University in community engagement as this Lincoln asset grows.