13 October 2022
The Homes of Devonport Tour is a popular fundraiser run by the Devonport Rotary Club in association with Bayleys Devonport – and this year, for the first time, Harbour Hospice is one of its beneficiaries.
The home owners who graciously open their homes to the public for the bi-annual tour rarely say no when asked to participate, organiser Lynda Betts reveals. “And the reason is the causes we fundraise for resonate with them. With Harbour Hospice, it’s a place that most of us have had dealings with and we’ve very much appreciated what hospice has done for us.”
Such is the case for Devonport couple Annie O’Donnell and David McQueen, who are showing their transitional bungalow/villa, which they renovated a year after purchasing it.
Both lost their spouses to cancer in 2013. David’s family was supported by hospice in Australia and Annie’s family by Harbour Hospice. Annie says, “I was a nurse and cared for Gordon at home, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Hospice nurses. They were amazing. I had such an incredible relationship with them. They were so supportive and would come in behind me to allow me and my children to look after Gordon.”
Annie admits it has been “a bit of work” getting their home to “open home level presentation” for the tour. “But for hospice it’s absolutely worth it. We agreed that we really wanted to do this.”
As a real estate agent for Bayleys, Lynda has been responsible for sourcing the homes since the tour’s inception in 2013. However, she was so taken by the idea when Bayleys was first approached to sponsor it she joined the Devonport Rotary Club and has been an enthusiastic member ever since.
Rotary has long supported Harbour Hospice and when it heard that only $600,000 is still needed to be raised of its original $10 million fundraising target to complete its North Shore redevelopment project, members were unanimous in their decision to make it a beneficiary, Lynda says.
For $80 a ticket you can spend the day on November 4 making your way around 10 of Devonport’s most interesting homes. The tour map includes great cafés, and stalls are set up at the homes selling baked goods, Christmas puddings and decorations, and highly sought-after goody bags.
Homes of Devonport Tour, 4 November 2022 – to purchase tickets go to eventfinda.co.nz
