Hospice helpers find role fulfilling
Together, Nelson couple Ray and Marg Webster spend their time volunteering at the Nelson Tasman Hospice shop.
Both nurses, Ray and Marg were looking for something they could do to give back to the community once they retired.
‘‘We were casting around for something to give our time to,’’ Ray said.
‘‘We’d both seen from a professional point of view the benefits of hospice work,’’ Marg said.
For the last two and a half years, Marg has worked in the hospice shop in Nelson and Ray has been appliance testing at the hospice’s four shops across the region.
The couple are two of the region’s many volunteers who are being celebrated as part of Volunteer Week.
‘‘It’s nice to work in an environment where you can see the generosity of the people who give, the things that are donated are amazing,’’ Ray said.
‘‘There is a good humoured atmosphere in the place and I think we are all working voluntarily towards a common cause,’’ Marg said.
The couple also work together to list the rarer items donated to hospice on Trade Me. They recently sold a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP from 1967 for $201.
Other rare items they had listed included quirky old paintings and collectable cast aluminium FunHo toys.
Both had previously spent time volunteering, Ray trapping in the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary and Marg on the local Taoist Tai Chi committee.
The couple are two of the 400-odd people that volunteer with the Nelson Tasman Hospice.They both said they would recommend it to others.
‘‘It gives people like us a bit or purpose in our later years,’’ Ray said. ‘‘It’s a great cause.’’
‘‘I think it gives us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction and a feeling of worth,’’ Marg said
Each year New Zealand celebrates National Volunteer Week between June 18 and 24 to recognise and celebrate the vital contribution of New Zealand’s approximately 1.2 million volunteers.