Jim and Joy Bain, 2 of 3. Joy was adopted at 6 years old by mother’s twin sister. Family connections, long-term impacts. Volunteering with AFS, hosted children. As hosting exchange students, got trips to visit Thailand and have short stays with families. Now get paid to host. Cultural differences with Thailand. Stomach bugs when travelling. Running a motel, work hours, incidents.

Jim and Joy Bain, 1 of 3. Voluntary work, started with Jim’s father, natural to do things for others. Scouts, paper drives, other fundraising. Grew up in Seddonville, moved to Nelson, then Levin in 1978. Paper drives without cellphones. World Vision stands at trade shows, getting people to sponsor children. Actually supporting community projects. Valuing volunteers. Small proportion or revenue going to overheads.

Dave Harding, Part 2 of 2. Worked at Massey from 1973 to 2021 aged 78. Type of research, preference for practical applications of chemistry. Past students. Primarily research work until mid-1990s when increased teaching responsibilities. Nature of chemistry research. Changing focus of chemistry towards applications. Water quality increasingly important. Cross-disciplinary approaches. More accurate measurements, better equipment.

Dave Harding, Part 1 of 2. Born in England. Many moves in early life. To Palmerston North in 1973. Early family connection with New Zealand. Moving to Canada. Came to New Zealand aged 19 for university. Similarities with Canada. No assisted passage for the family. Choice of chemistry. Travel after graduation. International calls. Canadian weather. Trips to Egypt. Departmental name changes.

Stuart Birks, Iola Haggarty, Alison Mildon, Part 2 of 2. Iola’s bach or second home at Foxton Beach. Beach houses in the past. Quarter acre section lifestyle. Kiwi weekends. Holidays in 1950s. Alison on freedom in childhood. School holidays. Better in the past. Extended family ties. More organized activities now. Focus on safety. The Fitzherbert Avenue tree protest 25 years ago. Outcome of the protest.

Stuart Birks, Iola Haggarty, Alison Mildon, Part 1 of 2. Local government responses to Covid and other disasters. Voluntary networks, ethnic communities. Reliance on the authorities. Civil Defence workshop on mapping communities. Privacy issues, conflict with monitoring and databases. ID cards with facial recognition. Local government failure. Submissions to council. Referenda? Training for council staff. Governance versus management.

Kirsten Holst, Part 2 of 2. Gerontology and getting to know families. Personal experience of her mother’s dementia. Mental and physical activity beneficial, also social activity. Memory problems. Changing technology, party line phones. Handling finances. Growing up with a famous mother (Alison Holst). Brother went into the food business. How mother started on TV, impact on NZ cooking. Living with ageing people. Mother finding it harder to cook. Family food rituals. Husband’s stroke.

Kirsten Holst, Part 1 of 2. Geriatrician, looking after frail people, mix of conditions, so more holistic, teamwork. Dementia. Families more dispersed. Ageing in place. Erosion of community living, family networks. Kirsten’s career progression. Changing hospital environment and administration. Working hours for junior doctors. Few GPs per capita.

Eileen Curd, Part 2 of 2. A chorus girl in the UK. A film extra with Richard Attenborough. Dancing, ballet and tap. Working in Wellington. Shipboard romances. Women getting pregnant before marriage. Moved to Palmerston North in 1960, quiet then. Lagoon in garden, later filled in. Early experience of earthquakes. Annual earthquake drills (New Zealand ShakeOut day). Her dog, perhaps her 5th. Place of a dog in the home. Earth from College Street used to fill the lagoon.

Eileen Curd, Part 1 of 2. Eileen just turned 90. Came to NZ from UK in 1953, 10 pound Pom. Went to NZ for 2 years’ OE after future husband (Fred) had gone there, although he had dumped her. Got married. Years later she met the other woman. 5 o’clock at St James’ corner. Knowing Fred in UK. Husband’s experience in Royal Navy in WWII. Eileen finished school at 14. Stopped work when 6 months pregnant. Settling in to NZ. Learning to cook. Wartime childhood. When the war broke out.