Robyn Edie/Stuff
Winton Rotary Club president John Hay, left, and member Chris Menzies are part of the committee set up to organise a formal dinner to raise money for the Southland Charity Hospital.
Winton Rotary Club president John Hay hopes a formal dinner in the town can raise at least $30,000 for the Southland Charity Hospital. Money raised at the club’s dinner at the Winton Memorial Hall on February 19 will be given to the hospital, currently under construction. The club is keen to join the many organisations and businesses in fundraising for the hospital – a goal of cancer care advocates Blair and Melissa Vining.
“I feel so proud of them.” Vining felt her late husband was the one who started the ball rolling with the push for better cancer care for New Zealanders. It was about two weeks until construction began on the hospital at the former Clifton Club Inn site in Invercargill, she said. Vining was glad there had been further action after the latest colonoscopy reports had come out, highlighting the Southern District Health Board shortcomings, she said. When Blair was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in late 2018, the couple were shocked to discover how severely under-resourced the public health service was in Southland.
“You’re taught to care for the patient sitting in front of you. From time to time, the system can’t provide that care.” Helping others is an intrinsic part of his life; from Rotary meetings, volunteering at the Canterbury Charity Hospital, and helping to establish the Southland Charity Hospital, to running clinics in Uganda. “Everyone likes to give back. I believe that I’ve been very fortunate, in the sort of life I’ve been able to have and what my career has been able to give me. So you sort of feel a strong desire to give back.”