Sydney locals recognise their favourite neighbours

For many people, the experiences of the past 12 months have seen them connect with members of their community more than ever.

Streets banded together to check in on the elderly and vulnerable, and chatted over the safety of their fences or from driveways.

For many the connections were totally new.

We ran a poll on Instagram and Facebook to find out how connected our followers are with their neighbours in 2021. We had over 1600 responses

• 53% knew their neighbour’s name
• 31% learnt their neighbours name after the pandemic started

And those who were friends with their neighbours had some very nice things to say about them.

We found this out when we asked our social followers to nominate their favourite neighbour for a shout out.

Here are some of the nominations: - Ian in Newtown: For sharing his tomatoes with neighbour @sophiethestylist - Belinda in Surry Hills: “She has become a friend and helps me when I need it” @sarah_mcshane - In Redfern: “The entire Douglas Street Redfern village” nominated by @geotk_ - Carmen in Glebe: “She always holds onto a spare key for me!” @dqvix - Victoria in Erskineville: “Good chat and always happy to swap food scraps bin shifts!” @laurenamytuck - Angie in Newtown: “’Cause she has 2 cats” - Jackie - Anna in Elizabeth Bay: “She is a true friend, always there <3” @keegantaylah

@naccab nominated Boris and helpfully added he was a good neighbour – for a cat.

Neighbour Day gives all Australians the opportunity to celebrate the strength drawn from communities. It encourages everyone to build creative connections within neighbourhoods. We are asking everyone to get creative, reach out and make social connections.

Find out more and get some ideas for how you might celebrate Neighbour Day on the official website.