Our ‘family’ of nearly 900 volunteers are special folk and we appreciate just how wonderful each one of them is. In this issue of Waipuna Connections, we want to introduce you to Christine Conn, one of our diverse volunteers who is willing to help whenever and wherever she can.

Christine has been a volunteer for Waipuna Hospice for over six years now. In the beginning, volunteering was part of her healing process after losing her husband.

“When my husband became very ill he was welcomed into the care of Waipuna Hospice. They looked after him so well, that when he died, I decided that I wanted to give back and thank them for what they did for our family. So, I became a Waipuna Hospice volunteer.”

In her time as a volunteer, Christine has volunteered for a variety of roles and is always one of the first to put her hand up to help. From helping with our Day Service programme every week to volunteering at our Remembrance Tree Appeal, Christine says no matter the role, she finds volunteering to be a rewarding activity.

“Working with people that are ill and being able to give them support is incredible. I just find the whole volunteering experience to be really rewarding, no matter what I am doing. The people are always lovely, the staff are helpful, and when I am volunteering I truly feel like I am part of the Waipuna Hospice family.”

Christine doesn’t plan on giving up her volunteering role any time soon, because, for her, it’s part of who she is.

“Volunteering will definitely remain a part of my life because I enjoy it too much to give it up. It makes me feel like I am needed, and I find it so satisfying to help others. I can’t really explain how it feels to volunteer, but there is just something inside me that just makes me want to help others, and Waipuna Hospice is the perfect place to do that”.

As a big believer in volunteering, Christine is often trying to encourage others to volunteer and has even managed to recruit new volunteers for Hospice.

“If you are thinking about volunteering my advice would be to just give it a go and see how you enjoy it because I bet once you start you won’t go back. Often people are put off by the idea of Hospice, and I know this place holds a lot of memories for people. For me, there are certainly some bad memories, but there are also some really good ones too. When I look back, I think volunteering was probably part of my healing process, and perhaps it still is.”