Community-building for better living
What we add
Everybody wins with Being Neighbourly
A platform to
ask for help
A space to
find support
A way to
make friends
Word on the street
99.9% of it is better than good!
“Nicole and the Being Neighbourly group have been great to partner with. They are a great source of contacts and introductions to an excellent network. I am glad I joined and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”
DARREN CATTERALL
BUSINESS PARTNER (BN C&W)
Founder, Jack of all Trades
“The origin of human characteristics is that we are tribal creatures, and therefore the creation of Being Neighbourly, intrinsically coupled with the sense of belonging and shared values, is an important platform that is necessary in our modern insular world.
Community building is a good thing! Good on you Nicole.”
RAYMOND YAP
CHARITY & NGO PARTNER (BN)
Founder, Heroes Too
“I’m very grateful to have discovered this group after living in the neighbourhood for almost two decades as I had missed the days when neighbours connected and saw each other pre-Covid. This group has made it possible for us to be ‘human’ again through intimate neighbourhood events and conversations. Thank you, Nicole. I look forward to more personal and business interactions via the group!”
GRACE CHAN
BUSINESS PARTNER (BN C&W)
Founder, Project Gracious
“Being Neighbourly is a lovely initiative by Nicole Chabot to connect neighbours and promote conversations. In this divided world, it is a beacon of hope for building everyday connections. I have been part of the group for a short while and I look forward to being more active in the group in the coming months and getting to meet more people.”
SOUNDARI MUKHERJEA
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (BN C&W)
“You have done really wonderful things with the Buy Nothing and Being Neighbourly groups. You should be so proud.”
AMY TEH
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (BN C&W)
“BN is my little local black book :) Full of great recommendations and a safe place to ask for help or questions!”
TRICIA YAP
BUSINESS PARTNER (BN C&W)
Founder, Limitless Health Hong Kong
“Being part of Being Neighbourly is a great way for our charity to reach out and connect with the local community to raise awareness about shark conservation and plant those much needed seeds of change.”
ANDREA RICHEY
CHARITY & NGO PARTNER (BN)
Head, Hong Kong Shark Foundation
“Even in a major city like Hong Kong, we all have a natural desire to belong to a community which knows us and values us. Having an opportunity to market my Toot communications consultancy to our area’s Being Neighbourly members opens the door to more local, and personal connections. I appreciate Nicole Chabot's work to create a marketplace that offers mutual benefits, and that promotes a sense of helpfulness in a world that can often feel anonymous and impersonal."
CHRISTINA PANTIN
BUSINESS PARTNER (BN C&W)
Founder, Toot Communications
“I first got to know Being Neighbourly after joining the Buy Nothing group. I loved the feeling of community both groups have given me. Now that I have moved out of the catchment area for the Buy Nothing group, the Being Neighbourly group is like a lifeline for me. Everyone is so helpful and supportive. I am extremely grateful to Nicole Chabot to have set this up. I have gotten grest tips and advice from the group members. Even though I now live in Pokfulam, my heart remains in Mid-levels.
DOREEN JAEGER-SOONG
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (BN C&W)
“A business community like Being Neighbourly is a wonderful initiative that offers numerous benefits to its members and the overall economic landscape. Firstly, it provides a platform for networking and collaboration, allowing entrepreneurs and professionals to connect, exchange ideas and form valuable partnerships. Through these interactions, individuals can gain new insights, access resources and tap into a pool of expertise fostering innovation and growth. Additionally, our community fosters a sense of belonging and support, offering a space where individuals can seek advice, mentorship and encouragement from like-minded peers who understand the challenges and triumphs of entrepreneurship. We can further benefit by organising events and workshops, equipping members with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the competitive business world.”
YVETTE ROBECK
BUSINESS PARTNER (BN C&W)
Founder, Style by Desixnlab
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Nicole for creating and managing the Being Neighbourly group. As a new mum and being fairly new to this neighbourhood, I was feeling lonely and overwhelmed by the challenges of motherhood but thanks to Nicole, I have found a supportive and friendly community of fellow mums who have helped me with their advice, tips and encouragement. I have also made some great friends and discovered some neighbours who share my hobby of gardening. This group has been a source of joy and comfort for me and I appreciate all the hard work and dedication that Nicole has put into it. She has created a positive and welcoming space for all of us.”
CHANDNI SAHAY
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (BN C&W)
“I remember it all started with the Buy Nothing Group to support sustainability, and now Nicole has taken it to the next level with the Being Neighbourly Group. With busy lives and social media, it’s amazing for her to create this online and offline community and I can’t wait to see how this goes in support of each other and giving back to our local community. Bravo and let’s all put our efforts in to making Being Neighbourly Mid Levels meaningful - together.”
JENMON JENKINS
CHARITY & NGO PARTNER (BN)
Community Director, SPCA
“Advocated by founder, Nicole Chabot, the online hub ’Being Neighbourly’ is gradually strengthening the sense of community and cohesion among residents of its respective districts. The group also helps us to see the unique differences between neighbourhoods and their east-west aspects. Let’s connect and foster community to make our home a better one for everyone!”
LAM OSHA
INDIVIDUAL MEMBER (BN C&W)
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Upcoming Events
It’s all so exciting!
Being Neighbourly’s inaugural multi-media group art exhibition is scheduled to take place November 21-25 at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre. Entry is free but booking a ticket is necessary for both the exhibition and any of the artist-related and other activities and workshops.
Our lineup of creatives creating or submitting existing work that fits the theme of ‘Transitions’ under the three sub-themes of: Transitions around physicality, societal occurrences, or Hong Kong as a place include: Lindsey McAlister OBE, JP, Louise Soloway-Chan, Peter Sung, Andrew Tse, Francesco Lietti, Elsa Jeandedieu, Carol Man, Vivian Ho, Andreas Von Buddenbrock and Bharat Khemlani.
Running simultaneously to the exhibition will be a series of workshops that fit with our members’ interests including: Photography, Gardening, Paper Bag art and Fitness. We will also be presenting ‘Being Neighbourly in conversation with...’ talks in the exhibition space featuring participating artists.
At the exhibition end, our judges with award the inaugural ‘Being Neighbourly Creativity Award’ to the artist whose work they feel has interpreted the ‘Transitions’ theme most skillfully and movingly.
Sponsor the Exhibition
You can be a driver for this neighbourhood project
Calendar of events 2024
Come join the party
Being Neighbourly is a community initiative, and, as such, we offer numerous chances throughout the year for our group members to meet up. From frequent group coffees during the week for Stay-at-Home-Mums, those between jobs and retirees to group drinks in the evening, affordable sandwich sit-downs over lunch, walks and the like, we hope that our informal events will offer a chance to relax and enrich our lives.
We also organise seasonal events around special times of the year such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas. These events are free, making them accessible to all and many are children-friendly.
We are looking into extending our activities to encourage inclusivity, if there is sufficient interest.
For our Business Partners, we offer a separate arrangement of business events, which are by invitation to Business Partners only and are aimed at providing a space to share about our businesses, seek support from peers and encourage B2B interactions.
Check out our calendar of events here and posted on each Community Facebook group. We welcome you to join us!
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About our founder
In just a few minutes
Nicole Chabot is a business owner, long-time journalist and author of two books on Hong Kong, for which she received Hong Kong Arts Development Council funding and about which she spoke at the Hong Kong Book Fair and Business of Design Week. She holds a bachelor degree in English Studies and master degree qualifications in both marketing and counselling.
In recent years, Nicole has become enamoured with technology and fascinated by online communities and social media, founding and running several pages and groups on Facebook. These have included numerous Buy Nothing gift economies across Hong Kong to reduce, reuse and recycle; and Being Neighbourly, Hong Kong, a registered Limited company that runs Being Neighbourly, Central & Western, an online-community bulletin board/magazine concept Facebook group, which is twinned with the Buy Nothing groups of Central & Western, and advocates hyper-local personal, business and charity interactions.
Now in her 40s, Nicole feels she is finally achieving ‘Ikigai’ with a harmony between what she’s good at, what she loves, what the world needs and what she can be paid for; and loves drawing on her diverse repertoire of skills every day.
Nicole is a Hong Kong Eurasian who was born in the UK, where she was mostly educated, though her Chinese family has a long history in Hong Kong. She lives with her Dutch architect husband and young daughter in Mid-levels, Hong Kong.
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A little preface…
(To fire your imagination)
“Community works when we participate. When we take action together, in line with our shared values, we can be the change we want to see, enacting the kind of positive difference that benefits us all. Be hopeful about what each of you can do. Within you lies the power to move mountains!”
NICOLE CHABOT
Founder, Being Neighbourly, Hong Kong
Welcome
A few words from us to you
Welcome to Being Neighbourly Ltd an ethical business that serves three groups of people: Individuals, Businesses and Charities & NGOs. We aim to add value to each of these three groups through our community groups, business membership, events and services.
Being Neighbourly Ltd runs Being Neighbourly, Central & Western, a Facebook group that was set up in March 2023 for people living on The Peak and in Mid-levels Central, Mid-levels West, Central, Sheung Wan, Sai Ying Pun and Western; and since the beginning of 2024, Being Neighbourly, Wan Chai & Eastern and Being Neighbourly, Southside.
Being Neighbourly offers its Individual, Charity & NGO and paid Business Partner members a space to get to know their neighbours with conversations that promote hope, opportunity and purposeful living. Where others go low, we go high.
The Being Neighbourly groups are twinned with the Buy Nothing groups of the same catchment areas (Learn about the Buy Nothing Project here), which means you are encouraged to be a member of a Buy Nothing group to join us. This ensures that we are all of the same community mindset and subscribe to a reduce, reuse and recycle philosophy. We aim to be a valuable resource, helping beyond the parameters of the global standard of Buy Nothing groups.
We are all stakeholders in our community and we encourage Being Neighbourly members to actively make community work for them!
Love from us xoxo
Who we are
Individuals, Businesses, Charities & NGOs
Membership of each Being Neighbourly group spans three groups: Individual members; Business Partners; and Charity & NGO Partners.
Take, our earliest established group, Being Neighbourly, Central & Western: we are primarily a group of community-minded individuals who hail from the Central & Western district of Hong Kong.We live on the Peak and in Mid-levels Central, Central & Sheung Wan, Mid-levels West, Sai Ying Pun and Western. We are international and hail from numerous countries around the world and so, we’re multi-lingual too. Our talents are as expansive as our life experiences, and we share the same values when it comes to safeguarding the environment and better living. In fact, membership of Being Neighbourly, Central & Western depends on being a member of one of the five Central & Western Buy Nothing Facebook groups, ensuring that our members are respectful of the planet and share the same community mindset.
Each Being Neighbourly group also includes Business Partners who may not live in the catchment, but run businesses in the catchment area across a growing portfolio of industries including: Architecture & Interior Design, Beauty, Communications, Education, Entertainment, Fashion, Health & Fitness, Home Improvement, Hospitality, Insurance, Pets, Photography.
Lastly, each Being Neighbourly group is also comprised of Charity & NGO Partners operating across Hong Kong including such luminaries as the HK Shark Foundation, Amber Foundation and Enrich.
Both our Business Partners and Charity & NGO Partners enjoy the Being Neighbourly interface as a way to introduce their talents and causes to the Being Neighbourly readership. For this, Business Partners pay a nominal, neighbourly fee for which they receive excellent return on their money. Charities & NGO Partners go free!
Free
Individual
Business Partners
$$
Charity & NGO Partners
Free
Businesses
We offer visibility
Becoming a Being Neighbourly Business Partner is easy! For a nominal fee, we list you on our website with a link to your business; and you receive a second listing on directory of the Being Neighbourly, Facebook group you have joined with your logo, business description and social media links. These listings bring your skills and talents centre stage and make you reachable to our members.
Being Neighbourly also provides additional services, when you join us or at any stage. These extra, paid-for services include: consultation, branding and logo design and the production of marketing collateral (business cards, brochures, PPTs, websites, etc) and paid editorial content — to help you stand out! We also offer the opportunity to hold collaborative events and sponsor competition prizes and events.
A Being Neighbourly Business Partners WhatsApp group transmits Being Neighbourly news and events, B2B promotions and provides the opportunity for our Business Partners to ask business-related questions and seek and offer peer support.
Here’s the list (and it’s growing)
Click on the business name for more information.
Architecture & Interior Design
Beauty
Communications
Education
Entertainment
Wonderland Productions
Fashion
Health & Fitness
Home Improvement
Hospitality
Interior Design
Melanie Molenaar Interior Design
Dom’s Doggy Delights
Wealth Planning & Insurance
Charities & NGOs
We raise you up
Becoming a Being Neighbourly Charity & NGO Partner is easy! For no fee, we list you on our website with a link to your charity or NGO; and you receive a second listing on the directories of all of the other Being Neighbourly Facebook groups with your logo, charity or NGO description and social media links. These listings bring your cause to the fore and make you reachable to our members.
Being Neighbourly also provides additional services, when you join us or at a later stage. These extra, paid-for services include: consultation, branding and logo design and the production of marketing collateral (business cards, brochures, PPTs, and websites) — to help you stand out!
Here’s the list (and it’s growing)
Click on the charity or NGO name for more information.
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Our groups
Mosaic-style collaborations
Each Being Neighbourly group is a Facebook space that functions simultaneously as a community bulletin board, and offers editorial content created by us and our Business Partners.
The beauty of this, is that the ‘narrative’ is created collectively, by our members, as well as Being Neighbourly in a dynamic that advocates for diverse ages, ethnicities, nationalities, lifestyles, skills and talents within an organised editorial framework.
Individual members post under community bulletin-style general post headings such as: RECOMMENDATION, LOOKING FOR RECOMMENDATIONS, PERSONAL SALE, and all members are allowed to post SECONDARY GIVES, in other words, to post items they have posted on their neighbourhood Buy Nothing groups, but which have not found takers.
Specialist members are invited to post under categories in which they are experts: Green living, Art, Food, Music, Health, Money Matters and Pets. In addition, we have a resident professional Coach who publishes a member’s write-in (by PM) on Thursdays and her advice in response to the problem they’re facing.
Meanwhile, Being Neighbourly supplies topical content of interest to our members such as the weekly: IN THE NEWS on Mondays, COFFEE WITH NICOLE on Tuesdays, HAVE YOUR SAY on Fridays and SPOTLIGHT ON… on Saturdays.
More about these later!
