Franz Josef, a small town on the West Coast, was built on a natural attraction – the glacier. But its community is so much more. The town of around 250 people mostly work in hospitality, adventure tourism or on farms. Locals meet and work alongside international workers every year to create a welcoming environment for tourists. As outsiders, we only see Franz Josef in the media for negative things. Whether that’s losing land to the Waiho river, or a slowly receding glacier. The locals left neglected; their true colours not shown.
Graham Berry, who many call ‘a community man’, took it upon himself in 2018 to create ‘The Franz Josef Glacier Games’. A challenge-based event, with dress-ups and laughs that fundraises money for charity, with the goal to bring people together. Graham Berry has been in Franz for over a decade, and he loves the town. This year, the Glacier Games raised money for the West Coast Cancer Society, which helps support cancer patients from the West Coast get to and from treatment. Graham said it's an important charity. “We’re fundraising towards Rānui and Daffodil house in Christchurch, a lot of people from Franz and all over the West Coast travel across for their treatments. He said, “anything we can do for those people, it's just a bonus to the event”.
One local, nicknamed ‘Frenchie’ due to his obvious accent, said the event is the epitome of the community. “An event like this is all about supporting each other and having fun. Noting the strong community spirit of Franz Josef, he said, “We do lots of fundraising events during the year, whether it's for St Johns, the fire service or even helping school kids go on their class trips”
Overseas workers make up a large chunk of the 250 people within Franz, and it’s not unheard of to fall in love with the area. Rupeni, a Fijian man who works at Franz Josef’s ‘Landing Bar’, has been there for 2 years and has no plans to leave. Rupeni said “it reminds me of back home, everyone looks after each other and it’s so welcoming.” With a contagious smile on his face, he added “I love the Glacier because we don’t have those in Fiji”.
Fundraising over $600 dollars and having a brilliant time in the sun, it seems as though Graham Berry’s wish for the event was a success. He said they’ll look to continue the event into 2025 and beyond.
