Latest news with #socialising
Daily Telegraph
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Telegraph
Sutherland: Sydney's friendliest neighbourhood
Nearly three quarters of Aussies don't feel like they know their neighbours anymore, with many avoiding saying hello and even sending passive aggressive messages. Exclusive data from Real Insurance and MyMavins reveals Australians are socialising less with the people they live near, highlighting a generational gap in behaviour when it comes to a sense of community. One of the biggest discoveries from the report was that 72 per cent of people nationwide feel Australians are less interested in knowing their neighbours compared to 20 years ago. Meanwhile, a whopping 62 per cent of Aussies admitted they'd lived next to someone for more than six months without ever having met them. Among Gen Z and Gen Y Australians, that number rises to 71 and 70 per cent respectively. MORE: Mum with prize home has surprise dilemma Sydney's 'Roman Palace' sells for $15m Psychologist and founder of the Happiness Institute, Dr Tim Sharp, said many of 2025's neighbourly habits came from a changed relationship with how people socialised. 'For Gen Z and Gen Y, community isn't always next door,' he said. 'It's often online, interest-based, and built in comment threads and DMs rather than driveways and cul-de-sacs.' 'That community is not so much defined by geographical boundaries, but more by other things like passions, interests … the need for connection hasn't gone anywhere. It's an inherent part of being a human.' The data, taken from the Real Neighbours Report 2025, was collected from interviews with more than 5,000 Australians aged 18 and over. The report calculated the country's happiest neighbourhoods, using a scoring system that ranked friendliness, likability, helpfulness, community spirit and noise. Australia's top three areas include Sutherland in Sydney, Cairns and South Australia's south east. On the other end of the scale, Central West NSW, Ballarat and inner Melbourne were ranked with the lowest scores. The number one source of judgment between neighbours is noise level: with 48 per cent of Aussies judging neighbours for their volume. That Judgement is not always invisible, either. One in four Aussies have received passive-aggressive messages from the people around them, with that number jumping to one in three among Gen Z responders. MORE: Nude model's jawdropping $3m loss Insane cost of iconic Aus holiday exposed To make matters worse, more than a third of Aussies have felt their privacy was invaded by a neighbour, from observation without their consent to even entering their property without permission. It's not all doom and gloom for Australian mateship in the data, either. 48 per cent of people surveyed said that a casual conversation had eventually led to friendship with a neighbour. Around 2 in 3 Australians see their neighbours to be overall helpful and likeable, and 80 per cent consider good neighbour relationships to be important for safety and emergency reasons. Jo Taranto, founder of community outreach group Good for the Hood, said she often saw online groups being made for people to connect within their suburb, using social media apps such as Facebook. 'Online groups are great to supplement and support existing relationships, as well as create new connections for events that are coming up,' she said. '[They] have a really positive place to build local identity and support local activities.' Beck Thompson and her husband first became friendly with their neighbours during Covid, communicating across their balconies and dropping food to each others doors. Shortly after, the couple and their son made the decision to move to Batemans Bay, a town where they had no connections. 'We have shared land where we hang out our washing, so we got to know our neighbour who is a single mum with two kids,' she said. Developing a close friendship, now their kids play together, while they also help each other with babysitting or school pick ups. 'She's now our emergency contact,' she said, encouraging others to make the effort to get to know their neighbours. 'I think people are getting over online, they want to meet people in real life, (start by) saying hi or smiling, (my neighbour and I) learnt about each other before we entered each other's houses, you talk on the periphery, there's small ways to build that connection.' MORE: Kobe's, Jordan's guru reveals secret to their success Wild number of Aussie millionaires revealed
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
The sad truth about how Aussies treat their neighbours in 2025
Nearly three quarters of Aussies don't feel like they know their neighbours anymore, with many avoiding saying hello and even sending passive aggressive messages. Exclusive data from Real Insurance and MyMavins reveals Australians are socialising less with the people they live near, highlighting a generational gap in behaviour when it comes to a sense of community. One of the biggest discoveries from the report was that 72 per cent of people nationwide feel Australians are less interested in knowing their neighbours compared to 20 years ago. Meanwhile, a whopping 62 per cent of Aussies admitted they'd lived next to someone for more than six months without ever having met them. Among Gen Z and Gen Y Australians, that number rises to 71 and 70 per cent respectively. Psychologist and founder of the Happiness Institute, Dr Tim Sharp, said many of 2025's neighbourly habits came from a changed relationship with how people socialised. 'For Gen Z and Gen Y, community isn't always next door,' he said. 'It's often online, interest-based, and built in comment threads and DMs rather than driveways and cul-de-sacs.' 'That community is not so much defined by geographical boundaries, but more by other things like passions, interests … the need for connection hasn't gone anywhere. It's an inherent part of being a human.' The data, taken from the Real Neighbours Report 2025, was collected from interviews with more than 5,000 Australians aged 18 and over. In doing so, the report was able to calculate the country's happiest neighbourhoods, using a scoring system that ranked friendliness, likability, helpfulness, community spirit and noise. Across Australia, the overall neighbourhood rating sits at 69.5, with the best areas at scores of 75 and the worst at scores of around 63. Australia's top three areas include Sutherland in Sydney, Cairns and South Australia's south east. On the other end of the scale, Central West NSW, Ballarat and inner Melbourne were ranked with the lowest scores within the ranking. The number one source of judgment between neighbours is noise level: with 48 per cent of Aussies judging neighbours for their volume, and a third of Aussies feeling judged for the same thing. That judgement is not always invisible, either. One in four Aussies have received passive-aggressive messages from the people around them, with that number jumping to one in three among Gen Z responders. To make matters worse, more than a third of Aussies have felt their privacy was invaded by a neighbour, from observation without their consent to even entering their property without permission. Neighbours can get so bad that nearly a third of those surveyed had taken concrete action to escape difficult ones. 17 per cent of Australians have called the police on a neighbour before, and 12 per cent have actually relocated to save themselves strife. The study also shows a generational gap in behaviour. While nearly 9 in 10 Aussies greet neighbours regularly, only 30 per cent of Gen Z always acknowledge their neighbours when passing by, compared to 73 per cent of Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are also twice as likely as Gen Z to know all of their neighbours, at 36 vs. 18 per cent. Dr Sharp said these changing habits weren't always as bad as they seemed. 'There's not necessarily a distinction between online and real life nowadays,' he said. 'There's nothing wrong with messaging someone rather than walking around a corner … but the best way to utilise the contemporary technologies is to use them as a means of fostering [real life] relationships.' Jo Taranto, founder of community outreach group Good for the Hood, said she often saw online groups being made for people to connect within their suburb, using social media apps such as Facebook. 'Online groups are great to supplement and support existing relationships, as well as create new connections for events that are coming up,' she said. '[They] have a really positive place to build local identity and support local activities.' It's not all doom and gloom for Australian mateship in the data, either. 48 per cent of people surveyed said that a casual conversation had eventually led to friendship with a neighbour. Around 2 in 3 Australians see their neighbours to be overall helpful and likeable, and 80 per cent consider good neighbour relationships to be important for safety and emergency reasons. That's more than just talk, too. Nearly 3 in 5 people nationwide asked neighbours to watch their homes and over half of Aussies share groceries and tools with the person next door. 'Connection to neighbours, or community, is vitally important,' Dr Sharp said. 'We all have different preferences. There's no one size fits all approach.' 'You need to do it in a way that works for you … in some way or other, we all like to and need to connect.'
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Looking forward to a summer socialising with friends and family? Here's how to get a £75 voucher to spend on the wines of your choice
The days are longer, the mercury's rising: The season for socialising is upon us! Summer's nearly here, and our thoughts are turning to relaxed weekend barbecues, celebratory family get-togethers, and long, light evenings chatting with friends in the garden. After a long hard winter, and chilly spring, it's time to get together again. And how better than with a glass of something delicious in your hand? And to help you do that, Virgin Wines are offering a fantastic £75 voucher for you to spend on the wines of your choice. Even better, by claiming it you'll be joining their Discovery Wine Club, which will take you on an exciting wine adventure, introducing you to new and exclusive wines from around the world. So now's the time to stock up on some delicious wines to enjoy with friends and family. What's your favourite at this time of year? A juicy red, perfect with a grilled steak; a zesty white, so refreshing after a long hot day; a perfect pink to toast the sunset, or even a bottle of fizz to start the party with a bang? Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it at Virgin Wines, one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer wine retailers. Virgin Wines were the first wine retailer in the country to ask customers to rate and review their wines online meaning they have a vast database of over 1 million ratings on their wines. They work closely with a hand-picked network of trusted independent winemakers around the globe using the ratings to craft a range of over 600 wines according to their customers' tastes – meaning you're guaranteed to love every bottle. With this special offer, you can use our exclusive code to claim an amazing £75 Wine Voucher - with free express delivery to your door. By taking advantage of this special offer, you'll join the Virgin Wines Discovery Wine Club service, where each quarter they'll offer you a 12-bottle case of their latest wine discoveries, handpicked by their award-winning wine buying team. Use your £75 voucher today and get started with a case of 12 premium wines for just £4.99 a bottle. You'll receive 12 bottles in every quarterly selection, which works out at a bottle a week. Obviously you can order more than one case if that suits you, and if you suddenly need a top-up, you can head online and shop Virgin Wines' latest case deals, or check out their special offers. With the Discovery Wine Club there is no contract, and no minimum amount of cases that you have to take. You can skip a case at any time, and if you decide you no longer wish to be a member, all you have to do is get in touch. Not sure you like one of the bottles? You can alter the contents of your case no problem. Not going to be in? It's so easy to amend the delivery date. Going away? No problem: you can just skip the case altogether if you prefer. And you'll still save on every case. And Virgin Wines are so confident you'll love their wines, that if you don't love every bottle, they'll give you your money back. Delicious wine, delivered to your door: it's so easy! Claim your £75 with Virgin Wines Glasses at the ready, wine lovers! Virgin Wines are offering a fantastic £75 Wine Voucher - yours to spend on the wines of your choice. By taking advantage of this special offer, you'll join their Discovery Wine Club service, where each quarter they'll offer you a 12-bottle case of their latest wine discoveries handpicked by their award-winning wine buying team. You can alter the contents of your case, amend the delivery date, or skip the case altogether if you prefer, and you'll save at least a 15% on every case. Enjoy! To claim your £75 voucher, click here and use the voucher code MAILWP-75 Terms and Conditions: You must be over 18. You can only use it once and not with any other promotion. You can't exchange it for cash (sorry!). P&P costs £7.99. This offer is only valid if you try their Discovery Wine Club and buy at least a 12-bottle case worth £134.88 or more. You can't exchange it for cash. Every 3 months and at Christmas you'll be offered by email a case of 12 Discovery Wine Club wines. There is no obligation to buy any more wine and you can cancel your membership at any time. Your payment method will be stored for future purchases. There is no obligation to buy any more wine. If you've already registered for a Discovery Club account, or have used a new customer introductory offer before, you can't use this voucher. Images for illustration purposes. UK addresses only. For full terms and conditions and details of all the benefits, go to
