All eight volumes of The Pledge – made up of signatures from 27,000 Cantabrians pledging their support for Christchurch and their region – will pass into care of the Christchurch City Council on Friday 21 February.
The University of Canterbury’s UC CEISMIC Digital Archive, with support from Pledge organiser Garth Gallaway and NZMS, has digitised each page of The Pledge in time for the third anniversary of the 2011 earthquakes.
The ceremony will see the volumes presented to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel by Mr Gallaway.
Mayor Dalziel, who was among the first to sign The Pledge when it started doing the rounds in March 2011, says it will stand as a poignant slice of Christchurch history.
“When I signed The Pledge, I never thought for a minute that I’d one day be the Mayor receiving the volumes for safekeeping,” Mayor Dalziel says.
“What’s been captured by The Pledge is the sheer volume of people – from Canterbury and further afield – who, out of love for this city, are in for the long haul. The pledge itself – ‘I pledge my commitment to Canterbury and the rebuild of Christchurch’ – says it all, and this gift serves as a timely reminder of just how proud we all are to call Christchurch home.”
The volumes – which went missing briefly in 2013 during the binding process – will be put on public display.
“We will turn the pages each week so that the signatures of everyone who signed The Pledge get the chance to be on show,” Mayor Dalziel says.
“Collectively, the response to The Pledge is a snapshot of the goodwill that flourished in the city post-quake. As such, it’s already an important part of our heritage and will be of real interest to future generations. I’m personally relieved that the volumes have been recovered, as they are a record of what we stand for.”