Kiwi teenagers to dance in SOUL’s Friendmob to mark World Friendship Day

SOUL’s Friendmob for Christchurch events will happen simultaneously at Christchurch Airport, Wellington Airport, Auckland International Airport and Smales Farm, Takapuna at 12 pm on 30 July.

To mark World Friendship Day on Tuesday 30 July, hundreds of Kiwi teenagers will be dancing in SOUL's Friendmob for Christchurch to influence the world to choose respect over judgment and cooperation over competition.

SOUL's Friendmob for Christchurch events will happen simultaneously at Christchurch Airport, Wellington Airport, Auckland International Airport and Smales Farm, Takapuna at 12 pm on 30 July.

The Friendmob's aim is to highlight the value of having real friends in tough times and to demonstrate how real friendship can overcome events seen around the world in recent months.

SOUL's Founder and Executive Director, Julie Bartlett, says "Sources of Unconditional Love - SOUL – hopes to dissolve prejudice with unconditional love and wants to show the world unconditional love is the answer to discrimination."

"Teenage girls have drawn strength from being part of SOUL so are highlighting World Friendship Day by courageously stepping up (and stepping out with their dance moves) to take a stand against discrimination.

"SOUL programs, known as SOUL squads, are hosted by secondary schools around New Zealand, and invite girls from all backgrounds and ages to come together to join the "sisterhood". These groups support each other and exclude no-one, so World Friendship Day seemed a good chance to demonstrate that more widely."

Julie says people who can't attend on the day can join in by sharing live video of themselves doing part of the Friendmob dance, or sharing the love through their social media channels using the hashtags #friendmob #worldfriendshipday and #unconditionallove.