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FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER’S DESK

Welcome, Howick Hospice friends, to our first newsletter of 2014. It’s always a pleasure and a privilege to share with you, all our latest news.

Our new financial year got off the ground on 01 April with a flourish. I am happy to report that we finished our previous financial year with a fair surplus in hand owing to both the commendable vigilance of staff members with regards to expenditure, and the generosity of our community – we received several bequests, one of which was extremely large. We are always overwhelmed at the kindness extended to us by our community and I would like to offer our grateful thanks to you all, for sponsorships, donations (both monetary and items for the shop) and bequests, and for continued support at our fundraising and PR events. Thanks too must also go to Community Chest, Lotto, Tias Arms (USA), FNB, Sugar Association of SA, Hospice of Siouxland (USA) and the Department of Social Development for their continued support of our Hospice service. Another vote of thanks must go to the Mandela Marathon organizers who very kindly donated R50 000 to our organization in 2013. As it is increasingly difficult to raise funds in the present economic climate, we are grateful for everything that comes our way.

We have our Annual AGM taking place on Saturday 28 June at 10.00 and I would like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all, to attend if you are able. Our Board currently consists of Mrs Sheelagh Smallwood (Chairperson), Mr Robin Gibson (Treasurer), Mrs Pixie Jenkins, Mr Vic Reynolds, Mr David Brauteseth, Rev Nigel Fuller, Mrs Mbali Myeni, Mr David Balkrishen and Mr Zwe Sokhela. Pastor Geoffrey Xaba was also a Board member until the end of December, when he resigned owing to his relocation to a different parish. On behalf of Howick Hospice I would like to thank you all. We are fortunate indeed to have you all at the helm of the organization.

As always I would like to convey to my staff and to our volunteers, my thanks for their dedication and commitment to our patients and their families, the communities we serve, the Hospice team and to the organization as a whole; and to my management team, who so diligently assist me by offering their insight, experience and expertise, a HUGE thank you!

I look forward to seeing all Howick Hospice friends as you join us for upcoming events. May God bless and keep you.

Sharon

CHAIRPERSON’S NEWS

The Board remains a cohesive unit in directing the affairs of Howick Hospice and furthering the aims and aspirations of the organisation.

Since our last newsletter we were sad to lose the services of Pastor Geoffrey Xaba, who held the portfolio of Spiritual Counselling in Mpophomeni, due to his transfer to another area. We record our thanks to him for his contributions during his short term on the Board.

The remaining members of the Board continue to serve our organisation admirably and I am grateful to them for their efforts and for their support.

My thanks to our volunteers who are always willing to help us – at times at short notice. Your assistance is invaluable to us and on behalf of the Board I extend our appreciation to everyone.

To Sharon, our General Manager, and all her staff I extend our thanks for the sterling work which they do for this organisation. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate the empathy they display in carrying out their duties – particularly in the outreach programmes in the rural areas where they deal with many situations that are tragic in the extreme. The Clinical Team under Sr Charlotte Woudberg are to be commended for their devotion to their duties and for their physical efforts in their visits – most of which are done on foot in all weathers.

Robin Gibson, our Treasurer, and I were privileged to attend a Staff meeting of the Clinical Team recently, which we thoroughly enjoyed as it gave us an insight to the work of the professional sisters and the community workers in the field, how they interact with each other and work as a cohesive team under the able supervision of Sr Charlotte.

My personal thanks to Sharon for her leadership of all the staff and her guidance to me and the Board in all our deliberations.

To all our members – stay well during the coming winter weather and I look forward to seeing you at this year’s AGM towards the end of June.

Sheelagh

May 2014 NEWSLETTER

7 Mansfield Road P. O. Box 819 Howick 3290

Tel/Fax: 033 330 5257

EMBRACING QUALITY OF LIFE

NEWS ON THE STAFF FRONT…

We extend a warm welcome to~

Zama Kunene…

Gerry Folker…

Sister Nola Poole…

CONGRATULATIONS

Sharon whose daughter, Simone, was married at Fernhill Hotel on the 12th

April. Simone came out from U.K. with members of her Polish husband-to-be’s family, who also stayed at Sharon’s home. Despite the fact that only one member of the Polish family spoke a little broken English, the happiness and joy around the wedding overcame any language barriers, and the weather on the day could not have been more perfect.

Laureen Funnell for doing exceptionally well in last year’s Short Course in Palliative Care at Highway Hospice in Durban. Laureen came first in her group and graduated Cum Laude. Well done, we are so proud of you!

Zama and Wiseman Maphumulo, who celebrated their first wedding anniversary on 30th

March! Our congratulations and very best wishes for many more happy years together.

Dave and Mel Brauteseth, who recently completed both the Cape Argus cycle race and the Maritzburg Marathon …..phew! A truly amazing feat to contemplate, particularly for us, (dare we say?) just a little older and just a tad less athletic members of the team! Well done to both of you

EMBRACING QUALITY OF LIFE

Our new Social Worker, who joined us at the beginning of January this year. Zama previously worked at the Child and Family Welfare Department in Impendle for eight years and comes to us with a wealth of experience in her field. Zama lives with her family in Impendle and commutes daily.

Gerry joined the Hospice team in January this year. She works on a flexitime basis as Assistant Proposal Writer, helping Sharon in the never-ending search for more funding and also taking Hospice Board meeting minutes. Gerry has 3 married daughters and 6 grandchildren, and is married to Rob Folker. They live in Howick.

Nola previously worked at Mediclinic in Maritzburg. Nola started with us on 1st March, taking Terri Perrimal’s place on our Outreach Programme. She is married to Roger, who is a qualified forester and works for a local company which supplies herbicides for weed control in forestry and conservation. They have a son, Rory who is 5 (going on 55 according to Nola!) and Rylee, a daughter who will be 2 years old in July.

ARGUS CONQUERED

Mr and Mrs Brauteseth

with their medals after

cycling the 109km Argus

Cycle Tour which took

place in March.

INTRODUCING THE GRZELAK’S

Congratulations to Sharon and

her family on her beautiful

daughter, Simone,’s marriage to

Bartosz.

Celebrating Hospice Week In May

Hospice Week is a week for raising awareness of the amazing work done by our staff and volunteers in the community. On 9th May, our staff & volunteers will be doing a “PR Drive” at Woolworths, Fairways Pick n Pay and Greendales Spar so if you see us, please come and support us! We will also be promoting an initiative called “Donate Don’t Dump” which encourages people to donate any goodies to our charity shop. Please collect your pretty purple “D-Day” bag from Howick Hospice and donate something with pride in aid of Hospice Week. “There is nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in man” ~ Sean Connery. This May, in honour of Hospice Week and in support of Howick Hospice, we challenge you to get your company, your colleagues, your friends or your family members and organise something wonderful to raise funds. It can be a cake sale, pamper party or a golf day ~ The sky is the limit!!! (Please contact us prior to implementing your idea so clarification can be given in relation to terms and conditions.) We really look forward to hearing from you and how you will embrace the challenge??

NEWS ON THE VOLUNTEER FRONT…

As always, a huge Thank You to each and every one of you for all the effort and hard work you put in on our behalf each week, and for being so dependable – we simply would not cope without you!

However, we are somewhat short of volunteers in our Front Office at the moment so, please, if any of you know of anyone who might like to fill one morning (08h30 – 12h00) or afternoon (13h00 – 15h00) a week, we would love to meet them. We also need people who would just be on a “standby” list, who would only be called on in the event that our regular volunteer cannot make it. Thank you.

Some very sad news …We were very shocked and saddened to hear that one of our most loyal and long-standing volunteers, Jen Denny, had passed away in her sleep during the night of Friday, 4

th April. Her sudden and very unexpected death was obviously a

huge shock to her family and those close to her. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her and whose lives she had touched.

On a personal level, Jen had been a very trusted and wonderful friend to me ever since becoming my bereavement counsellor back in 1999. She was a very wise lady, who had a wonderful sense of humour and a very caring and compassionate nature. She helped me so much. Jen also did a huge amount for Hospice over many years. She helped to run the Front Office, she was a very committed bereavement carer for many years, and more recently she and Fiona Arnott kindly put together and facilitated the Hospice Orientation course for our new volunteers. Jen, all of us at Hospice will miss your constant sound support and friendship enormously, and we all send our love and condolences to Robin and the whole Denny family.

Another huge shock came when we heard the news that Judy Wetherill had passed away at her home in Howick on 15th

April. Judy was a very gentle and kind lady, who originally joined Hospice to help in the Shop. However, after a short while she decided to try her hand at renovating cards and joined the Card Ladies on Monday mornings. She has been a very valuable member of their team ever since. She also baked regularly for our cake sales. All of us at Howick Hospice send our deepest condolences to Judy’s family

at this very sad time. Gill

Events Calendar 5th – 9th May Hospice Week 9th May (9-1pm) Street

Collections & PR Drive in Howick in celebration of Hospice Week

7th June (9-1pm) Winter Fair @ Howick Hospice 7th June (7pm) “The Chilli Boy” presented

By Matthew Ribnick at The Hilton College Theatre. Kindly sponsored by: Howick Travel & Knight Security Solutions

17th June (10am) Remembrance Service @ Howick Hospice

A Message from The Charity Shop

A great “big” thanks to all our loyal supporters who have donated money and time to supply more book shelving for our charity shop. Special thanks to Vic Reynolds for being our handy man and building the shelves for us. All we need now are quality books to fill them!

To Richard (who joined Howick Hospice at the end of last year) it has been a joy working with you! Richard is so helpful and polite to all who enter the premises. We love him

Please continue to donate all quality, unwanted items. All these items are

sold in our shop and the profit generated goes to the cost of care for our

terminally ill patients. Please remember that we can collect if it is more

convenient for you!

Howick Hospice is always looking for more volunteers so if you are

interested in getting involved and becoming a friend of Howick Hospice…

we would love to have you The shop volunteers have all the FUN. The

shop is very privileged and has an air-conditioner so if you would like to

join our wonderful team, you can keep cool on the hot days and warm on

the colder ones. Colleen

EMBRACING QUALITY OF LIFE

Les Peiser with the famous horticulturist ~ Keith Kirsten

who presented a talk titled “Sustainable Gardening” in aid

of Howick Hospice. The talk took place at Amber Valley

and raised a fantastic R8765. Thank you to Marriott for

sponsoring the refreshments.

THE AGM of Howick Hospice Association

will take place on Saturday, 28th

June at

10am at Howick Hospice House

WIN R50 000 for Howick Hospice plus WIN R10 000 Woolworths gift card for yourself

If you did not know, you can select Howick Hospice to be your beneficiary on your My School/My Village/My Planet card. If you do not have a My School Card you can download the application form(www.myschool.co.za)My School are holding a promotion where they are asking all supporters to vote online for their favourite charity - which, we hope, is Howick Hospice! If we come out on top we will receive a R50,000 cash donation. By voting, you stand in line to win a R10,000 Woolworths Gift Voucher - so VOTE VOTE VOTE! ~Visit www.vote4charity.co.za to enter competition ~Select Howick Hospice (Please note that Howick Hospice does not have an icon ~ you will need to search in the “search bar below”) ~Insert your personal details and your card number and press vote ~Encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same so that Howick Hospice gets even more votes

A Note From The Clinical Manager ~

“At the beginning it was very frightening for me, because I have never

worked with families coping with the death of a family member. Through my experience at Hospice I have learnt to communicate

with sick people and to offer bereavement care. I have come to realise that HIV Treatment affords people the opportunity to

manage the disease and LIVE LIFE. I have found the Staff to be very supportive and welcoming and have a sense of being valued and

loved. I am deeply concerned about the number of teenagers who fall pregnant as that signifies that no protection is being used and

these girls are placing themselves at incredible risk.” Zama Kunene

“I am proud to be a member of the Howick Hospice Team. I have been made to feel so welcome and part of this ‘family’. I am finally doing what I trained to do, as a nurse, to care for my patients. I am very grateful to my husband for his support in enabling me to take this opportunity and enter a very welcome career change. I greatly appreciate the orientation and mentorship provided to me. The care and compassion of the Care team gives me inspiration. Witnessing the extreme poverty and the sickness has been a very harsh, yet humbling, experience.” Nola Poole

I continue to feel immensely proud of Howick Hospice and the work that is given with enormous compassion and dedication. My most sincere thanks to the Care Team for ensuring that patients on our programme receive holistic Palliative Care. To the

Administration Team thank you for helping us to deliver this much needed care. Charlotte

Please complete the following, detach and return to: Howick Hospice,7 Mansfield Road, Howick,3290

Name: ___________________________________ Postal Address: ____________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ E-mail: ___________________________________ Phone: ___________________________________ Cellphone: ________________________________ I would like to (please mark the relevant block):

Renew my annual membership: Standard: R50 per annum

(All members have voting rights and receive our newsletter)

Remember Howick Hospice in my Will

Enclose a cheque/postal order for R..............

Receive further information regarding volunteer options

Our banking details are as follows: Howick Hospice Association Standard Bank – Howick Branch Code: 058 325 Account No: 05 247 1624

EMBRACING QUALITY OF LIFE

Visit us at www.howickhospice.org.za or follow us on Facebook

BEQUESTS

Supporting Howick Hospice through a bequest in your Will, will enable us to continue caring

for the terminally ill in the community beyond your lifetime and you have the assurance that

your financial contribution will be well managed.

You can include a bequest in your existing Will simply by completing a codicil. Bequests are

deducted from an estate before estate duty is calculated.

If you are considering a bequest to Howick Hospice, please contact us to discuss your

options. We would appreciate the chance to say a discreet thank you and plan with you a

fitting tribute to your generosity!

We are extremely proud of Sister Laureen Funnell on her outstanding

achievement in her Palliative Care Course.

We were very sad to lose Sister Terri Perrimal, at the end of December 2013. Terri was such an asset to Howick Hospice and her care to patients/families/colleagues was exemplary. Our loss is certainly Medi-Clinic’s gain!

We welcomed two new members of staff in January and March: Ms Zama Kunene our Social Worker and Sister Nola Poole. Nola is working in the Outreach/HIV Aids programme. The following is our new members of staff feedback on joining the organisation.

“Why I love and support the Hospice Shop”

The shop is an excellent representation of Hospice and all it stands for, as it is made up of kind donations from all over the community who come from far and wide to live here. You can feel this as you walk in the door- first of all there are always warm, interested, kindly volunteers headed up by competent, dynamic Colleen. It is like stepping into another world-you never know what treasures you may find and always at such reasonable prices. There is a certain style and elegance about the place even though the goods are from a variety of sources. You can see the principle of recycling in action and feel how the merchandise has been enjoyed already and will be enjoyed again and again.

People often stop me to ask where I got what I am wearing or some item in my house and garden and I can say quite proudly “Hospice” So on behalf of the community you serve so tirelessly with such great compassion Thank you for all you do and your very special shop!

Love Jill Charlotte

A KIND REMINDER THAT

2014 MEMBERSHIP FEES

ARE NOW DUE

A Letter from a Shop Loyal Supporter