News

17/11/2008 Tree of Remembrance Volunteers Required Centre City will host a Tree of Remembrance from Saturday 6th - Sunday 21st December. Volunteers are required to assist by manning the tree from 10am - 4pm in two hour shifts. If you are interested in helping then please contact rose.whitaker@hospicetaranaki.org.nz now.

13/11/2008 Life Member - Colin Muggeridge COLIN NOEL MUGGERIDGE Colin’s first involvement with hospice was in April 1992 when a hospice steering committee was formed with the goal of a hospice facility in New Plymouth. At that time Colin was with the Cancer Society and was one of their three representatives on the steering committee. In May 1993 the Taranaki Hospice Foundation was formally incorporated as a charitable trust with Colin as an initial trustee. On Nov 2 1994 Iona House was opened as a two bed day stay unit and as a base for the palliative care district nursing team. April 1996 in a joint venture with the TDHB Te Rangimarie Hospice was opened in what was previously Ward 21 of the hospital. For many this was the culmination of the original vision and the unity served the organisation well for a number of years. However Colin and others on the Board still had the vision of a stand alone hospice owned and operated by Taranaki Hospice Foundation. Colin’s passion for the HospiceShop in particular saw this part of the organisation grow and grow, a passion he retains to this very day. When in 2004 the opening of our current Te Rangimarie hospice was achieved, along with a terrific HospiceShop building that original goal has truly been achieved. Colin completed his term as Chairman and has since been a trustee and patron of Hospice Taranaki. As well the setting up of the Hospice Taranaki Foundation formally in 2006 to provide greater financial certainty for the organisation was a major achievement and Colin now chairs that Board. Colin’s passion for Hospice Taranaki continues undiminished and his dedication in particular over recent year to the growth of the HospiceShops has been outstanding. He is indeed worthy of recognition as a Life Member of Hospice Taranaki Inc...

13/11/2008 Life Member - Dr Peter Van Praagh DR PETER VAN PRAAGH. It could be said that this is a rather strange presentation of Life Memberships as sadly Peter passed away before the award could be made. However the decision to award Life Membership was made well before Peter’s passing so the Board felt it was appropriate to still make the award. These are the words spoken as a eulogy at Peter’s recent funeral. Hospice Taranaki history shows that Peter was one of a key group of people who provided the initial impetus for what was to become Hospice Taranaki as we know it today. In and around 1988 Peter was in an organisation called Friends of the Taranaki Hospitals set up to provide equipment and facilities for patients and staff at each of the hospitals in the province. In 1992 the constitution of the Friends was altered as their main focus had become centred on the provision of a hospice inpatient unit in New Plymouth. In 1992 a Hospice Steering Committee was set up with representatives of the Friends Group and the Cancer Society. Peter was a key member of that Steering group and the Friends group went into recess. Then in 1993 the Taranaki Hospice Foundation was formally incorporated with Peter as the first chairman. Peter stood down as chairman in 1994 then later became Patron from 1999 to 2003. It is important not to under estimate the vision and determination of those original people and the work they did to get the hospice service established. There was resistance to the hospice concept and there were numerous changes to health funding, governmental changes and policy changes through the years that they had to deal with. Iona House the very first two bed daystay facility was set up, then the first actual in-patient unit in what was Ward 21 of the hospital was established to be known as Te Rangimarie, while this was a huge step forward for Hospice Taranaki it was a leased facility from the TDHB. A real highlight for Peter was when in 2004 we opened our own purpose built in-patient unit on David Street. That really was the culmination of the vision shared by Peter and others. However it is important to note that Peter’s enthusiasm for the hospice concept was always driven by his concerns for patients and families to have access to the best quality of care when they faced the end of life. Soon after this Peter retired from the Board. This final paragraph applies equally to Peter and to the other Life Members recognised here tonight. That Hospice Taranaki is now an essential service for people with illnesses which are no longer curable, and is very highly regarded by the community, we know have up to 140 Taranaki people in our care at any one time, is due to the vision, the passion, the determination, the skills of those people who laid the foundations and helped carry them through to what we see today. Peter is indeed worthy of recognition as a Life Member of Hospice Taranaki Inc.

20/08/2008 ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS -Telemarketing Campaign Pledges from the Telemarketing campaign are on a par with previous year actually donations in is at $103,200 - this is great as the target for this year is for over $100,000 as it has done in the previous 3 years. At the present time there are 140 patients under hospice care across Taranaki, the highest number on record. High patient numbers along with increasing operational costs mean that in the coming 12 months $1.2 million needs to be raised from the community to meet the shortfall from District Health Board funding.

26/06/2008 The Hospice Art Doll Collaboration 2008 Volunteer Co-ordinator Jeanette Benton, being inspired by previously working on other art collaborations, set this up for patients, patients' family members and staff. Each participant started with a very basic form they either made or scrounged. Each member worked for a week on a doll and passed it on to the next member in the rotation. Being a part of this project enabled people to focus for a little while on something other than the difficulties they were facing. The journey has been challenging and enjoyable and the end results amazing. On each and every doll there are thoughts and inspiration from all members.

23/06/2008 Certification renewed for 3 years Following a two day audit by Quality Health NZ Hospice Taranaki has had certification renewed for a further 3 years, the maximum period able to be granted.

22/04/2008 HospiceTalk September 2008 Next issue is due out prior to Christmas. The September HospiceTalk can be accessed in pdf form under Newsletter, and includes: . Charity Dance Evening . New staff members . Time to Remember . HospiceShop news . Telemarketing Campaign

12/02/2008 The Year in Pictures This is a selection of images from 2007 of the various activities and events held by and for Hospice Taranaki. These can be viewed in PDF form in "Newsletters" on the Home Page