Support boost for cancer sufferers in Motueka

BY ELISE VOLLWEILER

Motueka’s cheery Daffodil Day appeal is a brief annual affair, but the town will soon be seeing an ongoing presence from the Cancer Society.

Within the next month, the Cancer Society plans to open a permanent office in Motueka’s High Street.

The facility will be situated at the northern end of town, near the Rolling Pin Bakery and Taste of Turkey.

Michelle Hunt, centre manager for the Cancer Society’s Nelson/Tasman branch, says that 20 per cent of their new clients were located in Motueka and the valley, and so it made sense to have a base here.

The Cancer Society already offers support to Motueka families via counselling, support groups and financial grants.

However, the counsellors, who travel over every fortnight to Motueka and every six weeks to Golden Bay, are at capacity.

The Cancer Society is employing two new part-time staff members to work out of the Motueka office.

“It’s the only way we can help more people – by having more resources,” Michelle explains. “It makes sense to put the resource into the community.”

Every year, 1100 people in Nelson/ Tasman are diagnosed with some form of cancer, and about 25 percent of those will seek out support from the Cancer Society.

In the Nelson/Tasman area, the Cancer Society assists at least 450 people each year.

This support can come in the form of counselling for the wider family, because as Michelle points out, “it affects everybody in the whanau, not just the person who has cancer”.

The society also offers financial grants for childcare, education for nurses, and travel to appointments or assistance with paying bills.

Radiation therapy takes place in Christchurch, so accommodation or petrol costs can be a huge burden on families.

Motueka is 47km away from Nelson Hospital – just three kilometres short of the government’s 50km cut-off to receive funding through their national travel assistance scheme.

“Imagine if you’re the major breadwinner, but can’t work,” Michelle says. “You’ve still got bills to pay.”

She says that another of their services is the “army of volunteers” that they train and organise to drive people to their appointments.

The Cancer Society receives no government funding and is completely reliant on donations and fundraising to offer its services.

One of its major fundraisers is the annual Daffodil Day appeal, held this year on 31 August, and Jan Riley, one of Motueka’s dedicated ‘daffodil ladies’, was delighted to report that the community raised $14,841 this year.

Although this was down a little on last year’s $16,000, she says that they didn’t have as many daffodils to sell and was also well aware that many people were struggling financially.

“We were thrilled,” she says.

She says that Daffodil Day was always so well supported in Motueka, both financially and with manpower.

“We have a hell of a list of volunteers to help,” she says. “Everyone looks forward to the daffodils.”

The Cancer Society has been gifted a 35-year lease to a portion of the late Don Heslop’s property, which hosts thousands of daffodils.

Between this and their other daffodil sites, Jan estimates that they picked 7000 stems to make into bunches of 10 to sell to local businesses, and another 10,000 flowers to sell to members of the public.

“It’s a lot of daffodils,” she laughs. “A lot of daffodils. Truckloads of daffodils.”

All of the funds raised in Motueka are utilised locally to help residents.