The most run-derful time of the year is almost upon us and some of the team at Project Island Song are using the opportunity to have a holly jolly fitmas and raise important funds for the continued regeneration of the islands of Ipipiri.

If you’re in a position to, please get behind the team as they step into Christmas, and make a donation to support their fantastic efforts.

Or join us and challenge yourself to complete the 12ks of Christmas, and raise funds for Project Island Song too!

What is the 12ks of Christmas?

We’re offering two options to those wanting to take part - the Traditional or the Next Level 12k challenge – and will all be taking on the challenge from 1st to 12th December 2024.

The Traditional 12ks of Christmas

This sees the participant build up a km of walking or running for 12 days straight. So, day one you complete 1km, day two you complete 2km, day three you complete 3km and so on until the final day where you complete 12km, a fantastic achievement and a total of 78km across the 12 days!

The Next Level 12ks of Christmas

For the hardcore amongst you, this option means the participant completes 12km of walking or running each day for 12 days straight. That’s an epic 144km in total, which does have a nice association to the Project as there are 144 islands in the Bay of Islands, seven of which are pest-free thanks to the efforts of our community over the past 15 years.

Why are we doing this?

Through Project Island Song, our local community has transformed the islands of Ipipiri from rodent-infested and declining, to a sanctuary for many of our threatened native species, covered with flourishing regenerating native bush.

However, there is much mahi still to do to protect these gains, and restore the ecology of the islands, from ensuring the islands stay free of pest animals and plants, to reintroducing more at-risk species and restoring more habitat.

Raising funds for this work is always challenging, but is only getting harder with many grant funds disappearing or overstretched. By supporting the 12ks of Christmas, you will help deliver essential work to continue the restoration of the islands, including:

Dogs aren’t just for Christmas – Every month, highly-trained conservation dogs scour the islands for any signs of rats, mice, stoats, and more, to ensure any pest incursions are detected and dealt with swiftly. This work is vital for maintaining the pest-free environment on the islands and protecting our threatened wildlife.

Removing the naughty and keeping the nice – Our volunteer weedbusters are key to keeping the naughty weeds at bay to ensure the nice native habitats thrive for our wildlife on the islands. Your support will ensure we can get our incredible weedbusters out to the islands on a regular basis.

Keeping us ‘elfie’ – We wanted to create a fundraising event that helps keep our community healthy both in body & mind. Getting out in the fresh air to walk or run and seeing and hearing wildlife can help keep us healthy both physically & mentally.

How you can take part

If this sounds like something you’re keen to be part of then:

1. Head to the Givealittle login page, and login or register: https://login.givealittle.co.nz/

2. Then paste this URL into your browser: https://givealittle.co.nz/r/projectislandsongtemplate. This will automatically fill your page with our template content, to make the process really easy for you.

3. Add or edit Your Details.

4. Under Your Story, just add your name to the page title, and edit the text to let people know which challenge you're going to complete (Traditional or Next Level)

5. Click Publish

6. Start sharing the message, collecting your own sponsors to add to the total, and get training!

Prefer to support without all that running?

Please consider chipping in to support our runners and walkers in any way you can - maybe $12 - a dollar for each day, $78 a dollar for each km for those completing the Traditional challenge or $144 a dollar for each km for those completing the Next Level challenge.

Whatever you can afford will make a difference. Thank you and Meri Kirihimete from the team at Project Island Song!