Tree of Remembrance at Dunedin and Oamaru Farmers Stores From Today Until Xmas

From 14 November until Christmas Eve everyone who makes a donation to Hospice whilst shopping in Farmers will receive a remembrance card in which they can write a special message for someone they’ll be thinking about this Christmas.

The Farmers Collectable Hospice Bauble is also available for sale as part of this campaign.

Both donations and 100% of bauble sales in Dunedin and Oamaru come back to Otago Community Hospice, directly contributing to service provision in Otago region and ensuring Hospice services remain free of charge to anyone living with a terminal illness.

This year’s collectible bauble has been designed by contemporary Maori artist Spencer Bellas. The ngaru, which is Māori for wave, represents the journey of life, multiple waves moving together as whanau. Spencer and his whanau were supported by hospice when their uncle was dying in 2017.

The appreciation of the Māori values of whānau, connection, spirit and ritual during the family’s time at Hospice left an amazing impression on Spencer’s immediate family who were the closest to his uncle. It also had a great impact on the whole whānau.

The hand-painted collectable baubles – at $10 each - are available online and in the Farmers stores nationwide from now until Christmas eve.

“Over the past five years the Christmas fundraising with Farmers has raised $3.4 million for hospices throughout the country, and in Dunedin and Oamaru the campaign has contributed close to $40,000 to the fundraising target for the last two years. The staff in Dunedin and Oamaru are amazingly supportive of this campaign, and really go over and above to fundraise for us. It’s an incredible effort at the end of a long year, and all of us here at Hospice take our hats off to the Farmers teams – they do an incredible job,” says Otago Community Hospice CEO Ginny Green.