This week carried a strange mix of encouragement and heaviness. There were genuine moments of growth and connection, but also a growing awareness that pressure is building for a lot of people — not just those already doing it tough, but increasingly families and everyday working people as well.

One of the highlights of the week was meeting with Megan from Trouble Smiths. It was one of those conversations where values seemed to line up naturally. There’s a shared interest in practical community care, dignity, creativity, and finding ways to support people without making them feel like a “problem to be solved.” We spoke about possibilities for collaboration, including our little wooden critters being part of a corporate box project they’re putting together. For Woodcraft Adventures Tasmania, opportunities like this matter deeply. They represent not just exposure, but belief in what we’re building.

On the streets, the work with Pete continued steadily through the week. We did another soup run for people sleeping rough. One thing we noticed again — soup helps, but it doesn’t quite light people up the way chocolate does. There’s something about a sweet treat that cuts through the heaviness for a moment. You see faces change. Conversations open up. It’s a reminder that care isn’t only about survival; sometimes it’s about dignity, comfort, and a small moment of feeling remembered.

The Food Baskets project at City North Church continues to grow rapidly. The numbers are effectively doubling each week, and the conversations around the tables are changing too. What stands out is that it’s no longer only people on the margins speaking about hardship. Increasingly, what many would call “middle class” parishioners are coming forward and quietly asking the same question:

“Are you noticing it too?”

And yes — we are.

People are talking about the tightening pressure everywhere. Higher prices across the board. Fuel. Groceries. Rent. Interest rates. Everyday essentials. Families are feeling stretched thinner than they were even a few months ago. Some are skipping meals, delaying bills, or quietly carrying anxiety they never expected to face.

What we’re hearing inside churches and community spaces mirrors what’s happening further down the streets. The difference is often just location and visibility.

Down here, though, there’s a phrase that keeps surfacing:

“It’s all misery down here.”

That sentence sits heavily. Because for many, the exhaustion is no longer occasional — it’s becoming constant. Yet despite that, there are still people sharing food, helping neighbours move house, volunteering their weekends, cooking meals, donating ingredients, and trying to hold community together in small practical ways.

That matters.

This week reminded me that while hardship may be growing, so is the willingness of ordinary people to respond to it. Quietly. Imperfectly. But genuinely.

— Christiaan McCann

Read old Newsletters:

• Notes in the Field: Newsletter No. 16 – Week Ending Sunday, 24th May, 2026
• Notes In The Field: Newsletter No. 15 – Week ending 17th Thursday May 2026
• Notes From the Field: Newsletter No.14 – Week Ending Sunday 10th May 2026
• Notes in the Field: Newsletter No.13, Week Ending 3rd May 2026
• Housing Blocks