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The leadership at Tōtara Hospice is proud to announce receipt of a $400,000 donation from the Hugo Charitable Trust.
It marks the beginning of its Securing Our Foundations Programme, a major redevelopment initiative designed to help shape the future of hospice care across east and south Auckland.
This inaugural investment allows major renovations on the first two components of the programme, the Hugo Living Well Suite as well as the Hugo Community Learning Centre.
The bespoke spaces are part of a broader, multi-year programme of work to upgrade and modernise the Tōtara Hospice facility in The Gardens in south Auckland. The organisation says demand for hospice services in south and south-east Auckland is rapidly rising.
Tōtara’s services provided more than 34,000 episodes of care last year, compared to over 12,000 in 2016. National research by professor Heather McLeod forecasts that the need for specialist hospice care will double by 2040.
“The donation could not have come at a better time, as we evolve our services to meet the changing needs of our community,” Tōtara Hospice chief executive Tina McCafferty says.
“In a resource constrained environment, the shortfall from government funding results in Tōtara needing to raise more than $4 million per year from community generosity to deliver services at current levels.
“This donation allows us to take a major first step towards ensuring we remain fit for purpose and can meet the needs of our diverse and rapidly growing community. It enables us to continue providing facilities and services that support people to live well and die well, with dignity, choice and connection.”
Speaking to the several dozen people who turned out at Tōtara Hospice to help officially open the new facilities, McCafferty said:
“These are practical, purposeful and future-facing spaces. The Living Well Suite recognises that hospice care is about living well for as long as possible. It provides space for rehabilitation counselling connection shared partnership work.
“The Learning Centre extends that support outward to welcome in. It equips families, clinicians and wider community partners with knowledge and confidence and a space to belong. It reflects a shared belief that when we demystify death and dying we strengthen our community.”
Hugo Charitable Trust chief executive and trustee Aoibheann Monaghan says his team is proud to help make this first step a reality.
“Enabling work that supports families grows knowledge and builds a more compassionate community.
“Tōtara’s focus on decreasing stigma and helping people to live well despite terminal illness, aligns with Hugo’s purpose, particularly across communities that experience hardship.
“It is especially meaningful for us to continue the relationship with the hospice, as Hugh Green [in whose name the trust was established] was a supporter.”
The Hugo Living Well Suite repurposes an existing wing to create a warm, community-focused environment, offering counselling, outpatient clinics, tele-health services, a palliative rehabilitation gym while providing group programmes.
The Hugo Community Learning Centre will redevelop existing education rooms into a more modern, flexible space for professional training and community learning as well as cross-cultural connections.
