In News

Greetings Everyone – it is time for another update on the Trust’s activities:-

The Stina Mooyman Palliative & Respite Care Suite

Our Suite continues to provide support for both the palliative care and respite care needs of those with life-threatening illnesses in our region. The Suite’s occupancy for the first 6 months of the current financial year (April thru September) is running at 58% which is well down on the same period last year, which had an occupancy of 75%. Unlike last year however, when virtually all the patients were palliative care patients, this year we are seeing a mix of both palliative & respite care patients, which implies a wider range of support to our community.

Talking to local GPs, they feel that the variation in demand for the Suite just reflects the natural irregularities in the number of patients with terminal illnesses in the district. The reduced occupancy levels do cause us to reconsider when we commit to purchasing the second patient room.

We were pleased to be able to host a visit to the Suite by Miss Mooyman’s trustee, Mr John Harrington of Arrowtown, in October. John had been unable to visit the Suite previously, and we were very pleased to be able to show him what Miss Mooyman’s generosity has produced. John was very impressed by our Suite and the services we offer.

Miss Mooyman made a further generous donation to the Trust in September to assist with expenses, for which we are most grateful.

Retail Trading Activity

Our retail trading for the first six months of the current financial year (April thru September 2018) has continued to flourish, with our trading income up 42%% over the same period last year. This is a very satisfactory result and is a real credit to all involved in our Shop, Warehouse and online trading activities. The support of our retail activities by the community and visitors is simply magnificent.

As we grow, our costs increase, so our surplus does not increase at the same rate as our income. For the first six months of the current financial year, our surplus on our trading activities has increased by 35% which is also a very satisfactory result.

Thank You to the Volunteer & Staff Teams

The Trustees want to say a big thankyou to all the volunteers and staff who assisted us over the winter months. The Shop and the Warehouse performed really well with good sales levels.

Although not a particularly cold winter, the Warehouse was at times very cold, and we really appreciate those volunteers and staff who worked at the Warehouse over the winter months. When we leased the premises the Trustees realised that the Warehouse would be cold, and that was why we built the clothing storage and sorting room inside the Warehouse, and put in some electric heaters in addition to the heat pump. During the winter we added additional suspended electric heaters in the main storage & retail area as it became evident how cold this area was, and replaced the entry door so that the door did not have to be open. It still was pretty cold at times.

We will be monitoring the temperatures closely next winter and if necessary we will suspend retail sales from the Warehouse in the colder months, if the workplace becomes too cold again.

Change at the Warehouse

Farewell Tracey

As many of you will know, Tracey Morrow our Warehouse Manager resigned recently, and finished with us at the end of September.

Tracey joined us as Warehouse Manager in March 2016 when our “warehouse” was the house at Yeverley McCarthy’s storage facility on Ballantyne Rd. We have come a long way from those days, and Tracey played a large role in our evolution. We particularly appreciate the way she and Ronalda pitched in and made the move to the new premises at Gordon Rd happen in September 2017.

Under Tracey’s guidance our warehousing operation has grown from a relatively small operation in Yeverley’s premises, to a fully-fledged warehousing and sales operation at the Gordon Rd premises. We have appreciated her understanding as we have evolved, particularly over the cold winter months.

Bev & Ray Rudkin hosted a farewell for Tracey, and we wish her all the Best for her future endeavors.

Revised Warehouse and Shop Arrangements

After advertising unsuccessfully internally amongst our Volunteer Teams, for a replacement for Tracey as Warehouse Supervisor, we have decided on the following arrangements:

  • As Retail Manager, Jill Milward will have overall management responsibility for both the Shop and Warehouse
  • The day-to-day supervision of the Warehouse operations (stock handling and Warehouse retail sales) will be shared as follows:
    • Ronalda Clark will work Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and
    • Mandy Bavoillot will work Fridays and Mondays, and will assist Jill, providing administrative support as required
  • The Warehouse will NOT be open on Saturdays
  • Anne McKenzie will continue to look after our on-line trading (Trade Me and Wanaka Trading Post)
  • Ross Parry remains as the Trustee in charge of the Shop and Warehouse

Change at the Shop

Thank You Margaret Henderson, Carolyn Fairburn & Amanda Caulton

Margaret Henderson has decided to step down from her shared role with Carolyn Fairburn, looking after the Shop on Saturdays, and Amanda Caulton has kindly offered to pick up Margaret’s role. Carolyn will continue to share this role with Amanda. Thank you to the three of you.

Strengthened Cooperation between our Trust and Otago Community Hospice

As noted in our last Newsletter, the Trust made a contribution of $30,000 to the Otago Community Hospice Trust in April, to help support their work in the Upper Clutha. Their work in the community is complementary with our activities.

A social event for representatives of our Trust and the Otago Community Hospice Trust was held in Wanaka in September to celebrate the strengthened cooperation between the two organisations. Thanks to Aspiring Law and Lazy Dog Wines who supported this function and to Bev Rudkin and Margaret Hay who catered for the function.

Recent Fundraising from which the Trust Has Benefitted

Viking Ball

Peter Marshall organised a “Viking Ball” on Saturday August 4, at his Corbridge Estate venue, and chose our Trust to be the beneficiary of this event. This was a very successful event, and Peter subsequently presented the Trust with a cheque for $15,000 raised at the function. It is generosity such as this from our community that makes the Trust’s job so much easier. A very sincere thank you to Peter, his wife Claire, and their team for organising this event and choosing our Trust as the beneficiary.

Aspiring Lifestyle & Retirement Village Arts & Crafts Auction

The residents of the Aspiring Lifestyle Village recently held an Arts & Crafts auction, for which our Trust was chosen as the beneficiary. Bev & Ray Rudkin attended a social function following the auction, at which they were surprised to receive a cheque for $2,500 on behalf of the Trust, from the organisers of the Sale. Thank you to Toni Mason and her team at the Village for organising this event and choosing our Trust as the beneficiary.

Donations

As mentioned above, we recently received another donation from Stina Mooyman towards expenses, which was most unexpected and for which we are most grateful.

As this Newsletter was being finalised, we received a donation from the EMM Hayes Trust, towards expenses, for which again was unexpected, and for we are most grateful.

UCHT Policies

At the last meeting of Trustees on September 4, the following policies were approved:

  • Staff & Volunteer Policies
  • Retail Sales Policies
  • Fraud Policies
  • Communications & Cooperation Policies

Copies of these policies will be available in binders at both the Shop & Warehouse for your information, and we ask that you familiarise yourself with these as appropriate

The Trustees have previously approved a Health & Safety Charter that is on display at both the Shop and Warehouse and again we ask that you familiarise yourself with this.

Up-Coming Changes to our Trust Deed

When the Trust was formed in 2013, it was by no means clear that a Hospice Trust would be feasible in the Upper Clutha given the districts relatively small population. The Trust’s first task was therefore to determine if a community funded palliative and respite care facility in the district would be financially viable. Given the focus of the founders at the time (and lack of funds), the trust deed that we formed the Trust under is a somewhat basic document.

Given the success of the Trust to date, the Trustees consider that the trust deed now needs to be modified to underpin the Trust going forward. To this end we plan to extend the Trust’s objectives to reflect the range of activities we support, and to strengthen the deed’s administrative procedures. We are being advised by Tony Horder of Wanaka Law in this matter, which requires that we get approvals from the Solicitor General/Crown Law Office.

Part of this process involves our calling a public meeting of contributors to present and discuss the proposed changes, and you will shortly see a newspaper advertisement relating to this meeting (date yet to be finalised). You will be most welcome to attend.

We will be putting the proposals up on our website prior to the meeting, once we get the go-ahead from the Solicitor General/Crown Law Office.

Xmas Sale Event

Bev Rudkin and Anne McKenzie are again organising a Xmas Sale Event featuring Xmas decorations and food, gift ideas etc, and this is planned for late afternoon/evening on November 22 at the Wanaka Bowling Club. Further publicity will be coming in November, and we hope that you will keep the date free to attend.

Xmas Party for the Trust’s Volunteers, Staff & Supporters

Pamela and Russell McGeorge are hosting a Xmas party for the Trust’s invaluable workers.

Date:   December 7

Time:   From 6:00pm… till whenever

Place:  our home at 134 Hunter Crescent, Wanaka

Please plan to attend. A separate notice will be sent out in November

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