Retirees step in for Santa and provide kids gift of joy
Aware many families face tough times, retirement-village residents pile on pressies
From teddies, to games, to books — there are toys and treasures of all sorts for children this Christmas, thanks to the collection efforts of Rotorua retirees.
Regency Park Estate Lifestyle Retirement Village residents have been collecting toys for the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal.
The appeal, run in conjunction with the Rotorua Weekender and The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM, is calling for people to donate what money or food items they can afford to the Rotorua Salvation Army Foodbank ahead of Christmas this year.
People can also donate toys for families to use as gifts.
Regency resident Wendy Simpson said the village wanted to collect toys for the appeal as they thought there would be many children not receiving gifts from Santa this year.
Simpson said she was an exteacher and knew there were many children who, for reasons including Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis, might not get anything for Christmas. This was because there were more urgent things parents needed to spend their money on.
“We hope it brings some happiness,” Simpson said.
By putting the word out through the village’s newsletters, many residents got behind the appeal and have donated toys and gifts for kids aged between 1 and 12.
And what do some of these treasures include? Games, soft toys, books, a hand-knitted doll, sports
equipment, car toys, hats and a beautiful brand-new girls’ watch, to name a few.
Simpson said everyone was happy to get behind the cause, and they were blown away with the response and items collected.
Fellow resident Ray Simpson said they had started off with a little cardboard box for the collections, but soon had to move on to a big plastic box, of which there were now two.
Resident Colleen Patterson said: “A lot of us enjoy buying toys because our grandchildren are all grown-up; it’s great fun.”
Resident Rose Foley said there were no wrapped toys because she had read that sometimes the parents liked to have the joy of wrapping the gifts themselves.
In previous years, the village had done food collections for the appeal. They said they challenged all the other villages to get behind the cause, too.
This year, the appeal comes at a time when many are struggling with a cost of living crisis. While food and money are welcomed, anyone wanting to help but struggling with this can consider donating their time.
“If we continue as we are, we’re going to lose 40 per cent of the GP workforce continuously over the next five years. It just breaks your heart.”
Little said he met with GPS from across the country regularly and was “well aware” of the issues they face.
“Years of under-investment, an out-of-date funding system, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the worst flu season anyone can remember got us to this position,” Little told NZME.
With regards to pay parity for general practices, Little said the fund was not closed to GP practices.
“But we need to see evidence that there actually is a pay difference.
“The information supplied to me shows that many nurses in GP practices are getting paid nearly as much as nurses in hospitals.”
Little said over the past 10 years, including 2022, annual adjustments to funding have included inflation.
“Budget 2022 includes $86m over four years to more equitably allocate primary care funding to general practices based on their high-needs population.
“Distribution of this additional funding will begin in 2023.”