The crew at Cambridge Hospice Shop have been congratulated by Hospice Waikato chief executive Craig Tamblyn for having raised $3.4 million for local hospice patients and their families over the past decade.
Tamblyn spoke about the milestone at a function at the store last week to mark 10 years at its current Anzac St premises. Prior to that, it operated from a smaller outlet in Duke St for a decade before outgrowing the space.
Hospice Waikato chief executive Craig Tamblyn talking to Cambridge Hospice Shop last week.
“You folk are absolutely phenomenal,” he told them. “It is all of you who have made this shop the great success it is.”
He credited Cambridge store manager Justine Webb-Elliott and her team of volunteers for establishing an outlet known as much for its friendliness as for its fundraising efficiency.
“Not only is this a celebration for your birthday but it is also for you all. As the years have gone on, people have come to realise that this shop is a destination.”
The money raised in each region’s hospice shops goes towards providing free palliative care for patients and families in their own communities, and Tamblyn said Cambridge was one of Hospice Waikato’s growth areas.
Also at the gathering was Karen Mansfield, Hospice Waikato manager of volunteer services.
She said there were 695 volunteers across nine stores in the Waikato, slightly down on a pre-Covid number of 750. The region deals with around 1600 patients a year. Cambridge is one of the busiest areas in the Waikato, and Waikato in turn is one of the biggest hospice catchment areas in the country.
Hospice Waikato chief executive Craig Tamblyn (back left) with some of the volunteers who were at last week’s celebration.
Cambridge store manager Webb-Elliott has been there for four years and loves it, both because of the hospice connection and because of the people she works with. She said while Cambridge has 73 volunteers on the books there is always room to bring more on board to spread the load.
“Right now, we’re finding Sundays really hard. They’re getting busier all the time and the more volunteers we have willing to share that load means each one might do just a few hours, and that might be just once a month,” she said, “I always say that when it comes to hospice, the nurses don’t take Sunday off … nor do the patients.”
An open day at will be held at Hospice Waikato in Hamilton on March 23, when visitors to the Cobham Road site would to see Rainbow Place, visit the inpatient unit and the art therapy section.
Cambridge Hospice Shop manager Justine Webb-Elliott (left) with volunteer Mary Denize. Tamahere-based Mary, who is a long-time volunteer at the local store, also volunteers with the inpatient unit at Hospice Waikato in Hamilton.
