March 2019

Kia kaha everyone, our thoughts are with everyone affected by the terror attacks on Friday 15 March. Please take the time you need to be with your family and friends.

We have started off the new year with a large number of new volunteers both as Tag Remover and Tag Spotters. It is great to have volunteers who vary in age, background and reasons for getting involved. These reasons include keeping fit, upskilling, connecting with others, enhancing their English and completing service hours. In addition, they are keeping our city graffiti-free. Whatever your reason we thank you for volunteering with us.

Ngā Mihi
The Graffiti Team

Thanks to those volunteers and their guests who were able to attend our function held in November last year. To have Karleen Edwards, the Chief Executive Officer of the Christchurch City Council present, is a testament to the high regard volunteers are held.

Proceedings were opened with a blessing by one of our volunteers Brian Parker which was followed by students of St James School, who proudly sang the National anthem. Councillor Glenn Livingstone, who has also been involved with graffiti clean ups in his community, acknowledged the importance and value of volunteers. He presented each volunteer with a certificate of appreciation. 

(Volunteer, Brian Parker QSM (left) receiving his certificate of appreciation from Councillor Glenn Livingstone). 

It was great to have Claire Milne from the Christchurch City Council present to us the journey of the Graffiti Programme. Claire was a key staff member in the launch of the Graffiti Programme. As our function drew to a close, all volunteers were presented and photographed with certificates of appreciation. If you would like to receive your copy, please contact us on 941 6655. We look forward to another 10 years of success with the volunteers of the programme. 

(Students from St James School) 

During the second half of 2018, the Graffiti Programme hosted student Poppy Wallace-Bell from the University of Canterbury who was participating in the Professional and Community Engagement internship programme. Poppy who is completing a Bachelor of Arts degree was tasked with the project of researching the usability of the Snap Send Solve app, with reference to graffiti reporting. Below are Poppy’s findings and recommendations from her research of the app:

• Target a younger user base i.e. school students which encourages participation amongst youth
• Develop a social media strategy with the aim of engaging a wider audience
• Incorporating the app into printed promotional material i.e. bumper stickers, magnets and leaflets
• Promoting the app in schools by running a competition using the app to encourage younger users
• Profiling, in our newsletter, a volunteer who frequently uses the app.
• Consideration to applying key words and phrases to marketing material to encourage greater use i.e. “Help us to help you”

A big thank you to Poppy for her findings and the ongoing support from the University of Canterbury who provide us with the opportunity to have an intern. We look forward to hosting another intern later this year.

Inconjunction with our call centre and the Snap Send Solve app, graffiti amongst other incidents, can also be reported via the Christchurch City Council’s new reporting system. The system provides an option of keeping you up to date with the progress of your request. Please contact us if you need assistance with this.

Thanks to Keep New Zealand Beautiful who have again provided us with several graffiti removal Adopt a Spot Kits. These kits are full of graffiti removal related products and vouchers supplied by Resene and KNZB. Visit the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website for the 2019 Nature Murals and Wall Worthy Competitions. If you are interested in adopting an area or know of a community group who may be interested in taking up this offer, please contact us. 

Occasionally we receive photos (left) whereby the graffiti removal job could have been better. Often it is difficult to ascertain who has been responsible for painting over the graffiti given that there are many members of the public who take the removal of graffiti into their own hands. The end result can often look worse than the original graffiti and has the potential to attract further tagging.

We advise if you do not have the matching paint colour, then report the graffiti incident to our Call Centre. The in-scope jobs will then be forwarded to City Care, our graffiti removal contractors, who will attend graffiti incidents within 48 hours of receiving the job (weather permitting). They are well equipped to deal with most situations and have more paint options than what we can provide volunteers.

Below are the best practice guidelines for graffiti removal:

• Obtaining permission prior to removal
• Applying clean straight lines
• Matching the paint colour
• Using wet paint signs if necessary

To support our volunteers, City Care have offered to provide a training session on best practice for graffiti removal. Volunteers will be notified of this session once details are confirmed. 

• Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 7am–3.30pm. Please call us prior to visiting to ensure we are there.
• Please notify us if your contact details have changed.
• As highlighted in the previous newsletter, please contact us if a volunteer ID card is needed when seeking discounts at those businesses who have offered discounts to our volunteers.
• Thanks again to our volunteers who are responding to the monthly text/email request regarding time spent volunteering with us.