The Pantry has evolved into a community hub for South Invercargill. We pride ourselves on listening to our community so we are excited to announce The Pantry will be refocusing as a fully-fledged community café.

While this means that the majority of our bulk refill will not continue, we have identified that local Southland and New Zealand products are a key reason many people visit The Pantry.

Therefore, in addition to extending our café menu, we will continue to offer Murihiku made and locally sourced:

• Bread-making ingredients
• Cleaning ingredients
• Hopefield Hemp products, Southland Biltong, Miele Apiaries honey, My Secret Chocolate
• Locally grown vegetables, milk, eggs, nuts and more
• Delicious catering services for small and large gatherings
• The Pantry’s own product lines
• Our very popular frozen meals 

                 
 
We will also be changing our opening hours from Monday 24 February
Monday to Friday     9.00am to 3.30pm
Saturday                   10.30 to 2.00pm

We believe these changes will allow us to better serve our community and continue to be a place where people can come together, enjoy great food, and support local products.

So if becoming a South Alive Champion (aka Volunteer) sounds like something you might be interested in, pop in and see us at The Pod, 262 Ness Street, check out our website, or just come and say hi at one of these great events we have coming up over the next few months.

Summer Fun in the Sun
We are celebrating summer and the fantastic parks in our community with a series of pop up parties in your local neighbourhood park. We are kicking things off in Russell Square on 13 February, then we will head to Tweed St Playground on 20 February and Dunbeath Crescent Playground on 27 February. All of these events will run from 4pm – 6pm, so you can pop by on your way home from work or school . We will have some tunes, a free bbq and some fun games for people to try. Its all about connecting with your neighbours, and enjoying the green spaces in our local area, so come along and join the fun!

We are also bringing back the fantastic Children’s Day event at Elizabeth Park that was so popular last year! We were thrilled of how many of you turned up last year, so we are planning to bring even more fun to the park this year. There will be parkour, balloon animals, bubble machines, scavenger hunts, table tennis, and some good old fashioned races like the egg and spoon race and much much more! We have some fantastic food trucks coming along, so you can purchase some snacks, or bring a picnic and settle in for an afternoon of free fun at Elizabeth Park.

Photo Credit: Invercargill City Council Archives (Southland Hospital 1969)

Join South Alive for walking tours this March to view the latest Heritage panel at Southland Hospital installed in your community as part of the South Invercargill Heritage Trail.  

1. South Invercargill Heritage Trail: Southland Hospital Tour: Tuesday 18 March 2025 – 1pm
Meet at the Foyer Entrance, Southland Hospital Invercargill
Join South Alive for a tour of the recently installed heritage trail. You will also enjoy viewing the artworks on display and hearing the history of Kew.

2. South Invercargill Heritage Trail: Kew Bush & Southland Hospital Walking Tour: Tuesday 25 March 2025 – 12.30-1.30pm
Meet at The Southland Hospital Heritage Panel, Kew Road, Invercargill
Join South Alive at the recently installed heritage trail panel on Kew Road, Wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing for a walking tour of approx. 45-60 minutes around Kew Bush and the Southland Hospital site.

For more information on other events Event Calendar — Heritage Southland

We would not be able to achieve what we do without the incredible support from organisations in our community, so we want to say a massive thanks to the following organisations who have helped out with recent with our events and projects in the last month.

• Snaps for the Gram
• Ragnarok
• Te Rourou
• A Cut Above
• Blessed Studio
• Active Southland
• The Y
• Rotary South