Upcycling birthday cards for village

When Wendy Cumming moved into the Arvida Waimea Plain’s retirement community, she wanted to do something to connect everyone in the village. That led to upcycling birthday cards which are now delivered to everyone on their special day.

Every three months, a group of residents get together and create birthday cards by upcycling cards with their own creative touches using glitter, bows, and crystals, or creating cards from scratch that even include embroidery. The cards are then hand delivered to about 240 residents plus staff on their birthday.

“It means we have an eclectic mix of birthday cards,” she says. “When I moved into the village, it was one of the things I thought would connect everyone in the village and I thought there will be some people who don’t get any birthday cards.

“I’ve always been interested in people and making sure they feel comfortable and feel part of a community. This is one way of doing that.

“You get to know everyone!”

The cards are now made by a ‘crafternoon’ group of about 12 residents who include the card-making session in their mix of crafts and have completed up to 70 cards in one afternoon.

Wendy says they sometimes run short of male cards and then she will sit down and create more with a male theme.

She says the reaction from residents when they receive their cards makes it worthwhile.

“They’re thrilled. You get lots of thank yous!”

One of the group, Caroline Salisbury, says the crafternoons are a good chance to chat, but it is also about recycling bits and pieces which is also important.

“It’s really nice to give something to our neighbours when it’s their special day too.”