Helping hands for Hospice

The sale of items such as barbecued burgers, cans of Coke and raffle tickets will help care for Marlburians in need of palliative care through 2025.

Hospice Marlborough opened their doors on Wednesday to curious community members and supporters, keen to show off their facility.

Hospice Marlborough’s Katie Wilson said, “Wednesday tied in nicely with Hospice Awareness Week, as part of the big push for hospice nationwide to get more funding – we’re only half funded by the Government which means just for Marlborough we need to raise $850,000 to cover our costs of providing free palliative care.

“Today deserves a massive thank you to Rapid Relief Team - they do all of this off their own back, from providing the food, staff and donate all their funds back to us.”

Rapid Relief Team regional manager Patrick Fisher was blown away by the amount of support that Hospice has behind it, which Wednesday’s open day vividly illustrated.

“I was amazed – it’s been crazy that we had to refill our burger stocks four times from super markets and we’ve had preorders from businesses keen to support Hospice as well.

“There’s absolutely no cost to Hospice for anything we’re doing today so 100% of the earnings come back to a really worthwhile cause.”

The extra $850,000 required locally must be sourced from community and business supporters as well as the Hospice’s shops.

Katie says that Open Days mean more to many in the community than just helping fund their work.

“Open Day is a way to get people down here and see that hospice isn’t a scary place – people can meet nurses, doctors, family support team, and the administration team, which helps attendees feel at ease about loved ones.

“We want to get past the idea Hospice is a place that people come to die, because that’s not everything - people come to get the care and support they and their families need when someone is unwell.

“You don’t walk in here and feel like you’re at a hospital - our facilities are beautiful here with nice gardens and a recent Nurses Station renovation as well.
“Everything here is for people to die with dignity and get the support after someone passes as well.”