Amy Blaikie | February 10, 2021 from GlobalHQ on Vimeo.
The Bales4Blair project is using donated wool to insulate the Southland Charity Hospital being built in Invercargill and has one more week before donations close.
The Riverton Lions Club charity lamb shearing fundraiser held this week, with volunteers expected to shear 2300 lambs at the Woodlands AgResearch farm.
Bales4Blair has been running since last October and organiser Amy Blaikie says they are hopeful they will reach the 200 bale target when donations stop being accepted next week.
Farmers donating wool are asked to tell their brokers the consignment is to go to Bales4Blair.
The donated wool will be scoured by NZ Wool Scours and used to insulate the hospital being built to fulfil a wish from Southland farmer and cancer campaigner Blair Vining.
Blaikie says some higher-valued wool such as lambs and quality fleece has been donated and sold with the proceeds donated to fund the outfitting of the complex.
“The response has been wonderful and so positive and we want to give a massive thank you to everybody who has made it possible,” Blaikie said.
The Southland Charity Hospital Trust was formed in 2019 following Vining’s highly publicised battle with terminal bowel cancer and concerns he experienced not being able to access specialists and resources in Southland.
Once completed, the hospital will provide free services to those living in the lower half of the South Island who are unable to access care through the public and private health systems.
The facility is based on the Canterbury Charity Hospital, which has operated since 2007.
It will not receive any government funding but rely on donations, grants and community generosity.
