1 May 2026
- MEDIA RELEASE -
Nearing the end of life can be a difficult and frightening time. It’s a journey that needs a unique level of care, and those who’ve received or witnessed Harbour Hospice care say hospice was there “when it mattered”, providing the right care, at the right time and right place.
This month marks Harbour Hospice Awareness Month (1-31 May), and the charity is asking its community for support so it can continue to be there for local families and whānau now and in the future. Throughout May principal partners Mason Containers and Northland Waste will match every donation, dollar for dollar, with support from boost partners Diamond Fusion and Ray White, Matakana, and local supermarkets and businesses are lending their support too.
Harbour Hospice Chief Executive, Amanda Fowler, says “There's a profound humanness to what our team does, walking alongside people at the end of life takes a very special kind of care. Every single person matters, and we work incredibly hard to make sure they get exactly that: the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Because everyone deserves that."
Harbour Hospice is the only community specialist palliative care provider in the North Shore, Hibiscus Coast and Warkworth/Wellsford communities, caring for more than 1400 people every year. But rising demand, increasing complexity of care and limited government funding means they must raise millions each year to keep services running.
“We can’t put a price on the care and love hospice showed Mum and our whānau during the most difficult of times,” says Danielle. “In the last two years of Mum’s life hospice provided in-home reviews, round-the-clock phone call advice, they arranged doctor reviews, transport to appointments and social groups, respite care in the Inpatient Unit, they even helped us arrange our last celebration of Mum’s beautiful life for her 60th birthday.”
Margaret says hospice couldn’t have come along at a better time. “Hospice made us feel safe and they made our lives easier. I don't know whether I would have been able to cope for too much longer if hospice hadn't stepped in.”
For Patsy, it was important that she continue caring for her husband at home. “With hospice beside me, I know I took good care of my husband, at home where he wanted to be,” she says.
Meanwhile for Ken, hospice’s Inpatient Unit was the right place for his whānau. “A Māori whānau wouldn’t normally keep a loved one in an inpatient unit, you would keep them at home. But Harbour Hospice was very comfortable and spacious, and it was Jasmine’s wish to stay at the unit. Harbour Hospice’s Kaiārahi was phenomenal in ensuring our needs were understood and met. And that acknowledgement from the hospice staff, allowing us to come and go in the way we did as if were at home, extending that manaakitanga (hospitality), meant the love and attention we were able to give our daughter was something to behold.”
While hospice is clearly appreciated by those who’ve benefitted from its services, hospice needs the backing of its entire community to continue to support local families and whānau, Fowler says. “That’s why we’re asking people to do what they can. We know times are difficult, but every action and every dollar enables us to keep providing this unique and essential care.”
During the month of May your online donation will be generously matched by Mason Containers and Northland Waste: harbourhospice.org.nz/awarenessmonth.
Meanwhile, some supermarkets will ask customers to add $1 to their shop for the charity, with other local businesses supporting the campaign in different ways. Harbour Hospice shops will give customers the opportunity to add another $1 to their purchase.
“We cannot deliver the unique level of care that we do without you,” Fowler concludes. “It’s your collective generosity that enables us to provide the right care at the right time and place. Aroha atu, aroha mai – love shared is given back. Thank you.”
To support Harbour Hospice Awareness Month: harbourhospice.org.nz/awarenessmonth.
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