Octacan support ‘huge'
Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) team leader Jollene Warrington said the event in Dunedin's lower Octagon supported the Family Works foodbank, and she was delighted more than 17,500 cans had been counted so far.
"And more are continuing to come in.
"Our target was 18,000, so I think we're definitely going to reach that.
"It's been a phenomenal, phenomenal day.
King's High School student Gregor Watts, 15, displays some of the 3685 cans collected by his school for the Presbyterian Support Otago Octacan appeal, in Dunedin's lower Octagon yesterday. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
"The amount of schools, churches and community groups that have got behind this — it has been huge.
"And I just think we are so privileged to live in this community.
"This is my sixth Octacan event and it blows me away every year."
Mrs Warrington was impressed with the support of schools — particularly King's High School, which collected 3685 cans for the appeal.
"That's a super effort for one high school.
"They were phenomenal, and then they came up and helped unload them at the Octacan collection point as well.
"So between them and Taieri College, and a number of other high schools, they've probably helped us max out our numbers.
"Each year we can rely on those guys."
Family Works general manager Nicole Devereux said this winter, more than ever, people would need extra support because the cost of food and other essentials had soared, and more and more families were using foodbanks.
"Kai security is becoming a significant challenge for an increasing number of whānau.
"Our data for January to April this year shows that we have had a 53% increase in new clients seeking budget advice and support.
"High costs of living, low wages, health issues and housing instability are just some of the factors placing increasing pressure on individuals and whānau with less support services available.
"These aren't people living beyond their means — they are people whose means are no longer enough to live on."
She said the Octacan campaign was Presbyterian Support Otago's major winter food drive, which aimed to help restock the Family Works foodbank with canned and non-perishable food.
About 18,000 cans were needed to keep up with demand over winter until the annual Christmas appeal, she said.
john.lewis@odt.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
How the humble air fryer took over Kiwi kitchens – and what we're cooking in it now
In 2022, demand surged in the lead-up to Christmas, and shops struggled to keep up with sales. A year later, Consumer NZ released a detailed buying guide to help shoppers compare the swelling number of models on the market, including larger, oven-style versions big enough to cook a roast chicken. Fast-forward to now, and the trend hasn't fizzled. If anything, it's evolved. What we're cooking now On TikTok, a search for 'air fryer baked oats' returns thousands of short videos featuring ramekins of mashed banana, oats, milk and baking powder, cooked at 180C until puffed and golden. The result is somewhere between a muffin and porridge – a warm breakfast for one with minimal mess. Chocolate chips, peanut butter and berries are popular additions. Other recipes trending this winter include molten chocolate cakes, croissant bakes, cheesy breakfast wraps and stuffed capsicums. On the savoury side, creators are showing off 15-minute pork roasts, skin-crackling chicken thighs, and air-fried gnocchi with crispy edges. Reddit threads and Facebook groups devoted to air fryer cooking are full of creative ideas, from drying orange slices to reviving day-old pizza and finishing off sourdough loaves. Whether it all tastes as good as it looks is another matter, but for many, the joy is in the trying. More than just convenience Part of the air fryer's success lies in how it aligns with how many people now cook: often solo or in small households, and without the time or inclination to use a full-sized oven. It heats quickly, cooks quickly and doesn't leave a sink full of dishes in its wake. Independent tests from UK-based consumer groups show that air fryers can use less than half the electricity of a conventional electric oven when preparing small to medium meals. As energy costs rise, that efficiency can make a noticeable difference to household bills. Air fryer ownership has risen sharply in Australia and New Zealand since 2020, driven by consumers prioritising speed, cost-effectiveness and healthier cooking methods. That shift is visible in local food media and retail recipe collections, where air fryer instructions now sit comfortably alongside oven and stovetop methods. From nuggets to lava cakes While early air fryer content focused on simple swaps – think nuggets, wedges and spring rolls – the new wave is more ambitious. Some creators are tackling pavlovas and bread puddings, while others use the appliance to streamline traditional favourites: shepherd's pie with a mashed kumara topping, or roast vegetables done in half the usual time. Of course, it has its limits. The air fryer isn't a magic wand. Large casseroles and liquid-based recipes are still better suited to a conventional oven or slow cooker. And some of the more elaborate desserts, such as lava cakes in silicone moulds, can be fiddly and prone to failure. 'Frying' without oil was the air fryer's biggest pull for those looking to limit fat in their diets. Photo / 123RF But for everyday use, especially in winter, the appliance has become an unlikely hero. It suits a generation of cooks who want fast results, low energy use and fewer dishes – and it taps into the quiet satisfaction of producing something hot and crispy with just the push of a button. An air fryer is no longer a novelty; it's shorthand for a practical, flexible, and modern approach to home cooking. As winter settles in, more New Zealanders are reaching for theirs not just for after-school snacks or reheating pizza, but for solo breakfasts, weeknight roasts, and the kind of crispy, warming dinners that keep power bills down and satisfaction levels up. And while the internet may still have a few unhinged hacks left to share (air-fried scrambled eggs, anyone?), most people are sticking to what the appliance does best: fast, hot food with minimal mess. Herald contributor Nikki Birrell has worked in food and travel publishing for nearly 20 years. From managing your kitchen to cutting costs, she's shared some helpful advice recently, including how to prep your barbecue for summer grilling, gourmet hacks for elevating budget ingredients and what toppings to choose for different crackers.
NZ Herald
18-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Gardening: Plant bulbs now for Christmas colour
Now is the time to plant them. As they grow from a bulb/tuberous root system, they are dormant during the winter months. If you have some lilies in your garden, they benefit from being divided every three to five years and you get new plants from the process. Planted now, your lilies will sprout during the late winter, then they will grow during spring and commence flowering around December. Lilies are easy to grow and can be left in the ground for a number of years. Each year, the clumps of bulbs will increase, as will the subsequent number of blooms. This is the time of the year when these and other dormant bulbs, such as dahlias, can be lifted and divided to create new plants. Most know the Christmas lily, though there are many other worthy colours, shapes and sizes in lilies that can be grown very easily. Both Asiatic and Oriental lilies make a wonderful cut flower to bring indoors during the summer. They can last up to two or three weeks in a vase by changing the water regularly and occasionally snipping the base of the stem again to keep the wound fresh. Asiatic lilies are generally earlier-flowering and there is a larger colour range to choose from. Most are not scented. They tend to multiply much faster than Oriental types. The growth habit, as a rule, is more compact, which can make them better for pots and small spaces. Oriental lilies are a bit later in flowering. The flower size tends to be larger and they have the famously scented blooms that are reminiscent of 'Grandma's garden'. The stems are usually taller, with a stately presence. Planting some each of the Asiatic and Oriental lilies is recommended as this will give you a longer flowering season of beautiful lilies. How to grow successfully They grow best in a sunny situation with rich, well-drained soil. The free-draining aspect is particularly important, as otherwise the tuberous root system can be prone to rotting and you can lose your plants during wet periods. If necessary, your desired spot can be raised into a mound to achieve the free-draining conditions. For great results, lilies should be fed Ican Bulb Food, once at planting, once before flowering and a third time after flowering, when the plants are storing energy for flowering the following year. Care should be taken to ensure the fertiliser does not come into direct contact with the bulbs. Planting them in groups of three to five bulbs in the garden usually gives the best visual effect. Taller-growing varieties will need staking so that wind doesn't snap off the stems during the summer. Adding a stake at planting time is a good idea to avoid the chance of root damage that can occur if stakes are added at a later date. It is also a good marker for knowing where your lilies are when they are dormant. And what about in pots? Yes, absolutely: using a good-quality potting mix is key to success, along with a pot that is not too small. I recommend Tui Bulb Mix or Ican Premium Potting Mix. Both have good structure. The addition of Tui Enrich for Pots & Containers every six months, and using liquid fertiliser Ican Fast Food as a top-up during the summer months, will bring success. They can be used to great effect in large pots with a mixture of plants, such as a permanent shrub, plus seasonal annuals and, of course, the lilies to come through for the summer months. Get inspired to plant something now for summer – call in to the store to see the range of lily bulbs available now. For more gardening information, visit Gareth Carter is the general manager of Springvale Garden Centre in Whanganui.
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- RNZ News
Charities see alarming levels of poverty as families struggle
There are a dozen people in the Latu household in the Auckland suburb of Mangere, but not enough beds for everyone. Three of Unaloto Latu's children have to sleep on couches in the living room. "Those three big chairs over here, our younger children sleep here... we know that sometimes it's hard for them but they have no choice." She and her husband have eight children aged between six and 18, and two relatives staying. Her husband has been off work with a knee injury for about three years and their household income, reliant on the benefit, is always stretched. They are not alone - social services said they are seeing an alarming level of poverty as families struggle with the cost of living. Unaloto Latu. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Four agencies RNZ spoke to said they regularly hear of families sleeping in one room and turning off the power during the day as they try to stay warm and pay their electricity bills. Charities - including the city missions, Variety, Kids Can and Family Works - are running winter appeals to help support families facing hardship. Latu sells her homemade cakes to help pay for eggs and milk for her family - but it is not enough. "Kids can go without milk, meat and bathroom stuff, cleaning stuff. Sometimes they need clothes and shoes, broken, husband can fix it he says he can get another two weeks from that." The power and internet bills are paid but Latu said dinner is sometimes just rice - her children's schools are part of the government lunch programme. "Sometimes if we have, we have. If not, they come [home] and just go in their room," she said. "It's crazy right now and it looks like everything in the shop is going up each before i can buy six [bottles] milk a week for our kids but now two." Latu said she sometimes struggles to remain positive. "It is so hard but I always say to my friends and family I don't want to sit down and focus on that side, because I'm a very emotional person I'm going to cry the whole day not doing anything thinking of those things. I try to keep moving forward." Latu said she is grateful to Variety for sponsoring her children, meaning they each receive $50 a month as a contribution to household costs. Stats NZ figures show electricity costs have gone up almost 9 percent since June last year. Petrol has gone up 15.5 percent over the same period. Consumer NZ's annual energy retailer survey found seven percent of New Zealanders have had to take out loans to pay their power bills - unchanged since last year. Chief executive Jon Duffy said the number of people concerned about the cost of electricity has jumped 10 percent in the last year. "These financial concerns have led us into a dire situation where 11 percent of people are underheating their homes." Duffy said the underlying market structure needs an urgent overhaul in order to slow down the growing number of New Zealanders experiencing energy hardship. This week, the Electricity Authority announced it would force big electricity retailers to offer cheaper prices for off-peak power use prices, and fair prices to people who sell surplus power to the grid from roof top solar panels at peak times. It is changing sector rules to require retailers with more than five-percent market share to offer time of use prices from the middle of next year, after a report by a joint task force of the Authority and the Commerce Commission. The changes were aimed to give consumers more choice in how and when they use power, and put downward pressure on prices. Presbyterian Support Northern general manager of social services Grenville Hendricks said this winter is worse for those on the breadline. The organisation is helping 800 fewer families after its government funding was cut by $1.5 million last year. "Agencies are struggling to keep their services running, let alone try and support people coming in," he said. "It's also a challenge when there's been issues around benefit payments, there's been reductions in the numbers of available social housing." Hendricks said that all contributed to people struggling to pay their bills, including power. "People are trying to manage as best they can, but given all the other circumstances that are currently happening in New Zealand with the cost of living, unemployment, reduction in social services, it means that actually the power challenge becomes exacerbated." He said they have heard of families sleeping in one room and children sharing beds to keep warm, and that the health of those not sleeping in beds or in damp mouldy houses was suffering. Zero Hunger Collective executive officer Tric Malcolm said she is hearing examples across the country of families struggling to pay for basics. "What is normal now, most people wouldn't have even dreamed of several years ago." She said for the first time in almost a decade they were hearing stories of families across the country struggling to keep their power on this winter. "I haven't heard these stories since the global financial crisis. Families are putting the heating on in one room and sleeping in that one room so that they can save energy," Malcolm said. "It's those moments that cause me worry and make me feel sad because people aren't able to access good dry, warm homes because they don't have enough funds in their household income." She said people then reduce the amount that they eat. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson said its services are experiencing increased demand and people would often cover their rent and utilities before buying food. "People are making terrible, terrible choices. Do I send kids to school, do I have the power on? Do I pay for the washing machine to be fixed, do I have the power on? Do I get food?" she said. "What we know is that the demand for food, so therefore the inadequacy of people's weekly income, is significantly increasing, so much so that we can't meet the need and I am deeply distressed to acknowledge that." Variety sponsors about 10,000 children and chief executive Susan Glasgow said the wait list has more than 3000 children living in material deprivation. "Unfortunately these are children all throughout New Zealand who are living in material deprivation, in cold, damp homes, sleeping on the floor, not having enough school uniforms to go around all the children in a household, they're living in really tough times." Glasgow said they hear from families regularly who are struggling to afford to heat their homes, and they often sleep in one room sometimes with the oven on for warmth. "New Zealand is teetering on the brink. I think if we don't take some pretty severe steps very soon we're going to see more children plunged into poverty and the long term outcomes for New Zealand are going to be dire," she said. "We want a healthy, vibrant group of young people who can contribute to our economy, who are well educated, who can support us in our dotage. You know, it's just good for New Zealand to invest, and it's not about charity, it's about investment in our future as a country." Unaloto Latu dreams of a bright future for her children and encourages them to help others. "Our hope for our children, we always teach them to go to school and study hard so you can get a job that will give you what you need." And when they have grown up, Latu has dreams of her own. "For myself, my hope and dream is when my kids are all in good places I want to travel around the world." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
