Wellington Children’s Hospital
'It’s all about our children and grandchildren' and supporting the new Children’s Hospital, says Mike Doig in his report on last night's speakers.
Wellington’s third-generation children’s hospital is well underway and should open in November this year.
It follows the King Edward VIIth Memorial Hospital, built in 1912, and its successor, opened in 1988, both of which were familiar to local Rotarians.
New Zealand will have three regional children’s hospitals: Starship in Auckland, our new one, and Christchurch. Each will specialise to some degree. The Wellington hospital will serve about one million citizens from Taranaki southwards to the top of the south island.
Last evening Bill Day, chair of the Wellington Hospitals Foundation, and Adrienne Murray, a former President of our club and now chair of the Rotary Children’s Health Trust, came to talk about the progress of the new hospital and Rotary’s part in it.
Bill is a former banker and has chaired the Life Flight Trust, Outward Bound, Wellington Free Ambulance, and has been a director of numerous other community organisations.
The new Children’s Hospital was made possible by a gift of $50 million from Mark Dunajtschik and Dorothy Spotswood, after whom the new building will be named.
Bill explained the design of the building with the aid of photos and plans. It will be innovative and state-of-the-art when completed.
Adrienne explained the fundraising aspects of the project. Our Rotary District has committed to raising $400,000 by March 2022 which will be used to provide two whanau rooms in the hospital. We are close to $170,000 so far, with our own club donating $2500.
The Rotary Children’s Health Trust was formed to support the building of the new hospital but will carry on afterwards to underwrite other child-centred health services in our region.
Poll: How should Guy Fawkes be celebrated?
While it is a fun occasion, fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night has caused much conflict over the years, upsetting our pets and disrupting the sleep of neighbours.
How should we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
-
28.2% With a city-wide public fireworks display
-
21.1% Small fireworks displays in each community
-
7.3% Keep it as is
-
31.5% We shouldn't celebrate it!
-
11.4% Anything but fireworks
-
0.6% Other - I'll share below
Winner winner!
Congratulations to the winners of our $100 Mitre10 vouchers:
Justine Terrill from Mount Albert
Suzette Gibson from Nelson
Soumya Manoj from Lower Hutt
Millie George from Richmond Hill
If you're a winner, get in touch here.
Not a winner this week? There's always next week!
Solve This Riddle or Be Left Scratching Your Head!
With pointed fangs, I sit and wait;
with piercing force, I crunch out fate.
I grab victims, proclaiming might,
and physically join with a single bite.
What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.