1 million dollars raised by small businesses for Hospice

1 million dollars raised by small businesses up and down the country for Hospice by BNI New Zealand

Business networking organisation BNI NZ continues to support hospices during Awareness Week

AUCKLAND, Tuesday 19th May 2015– Over the last decade, business networking organisation BNI New Zealand has raised over a million dollars for hospices around the country. Hospice NZ and BNI NZ have a long-standing relationship, with BNI NZ first starting to work with Hospice in 2005.

Hospice Awareness Week runs from 18-24 May and is an opportunity for people to better understand what their local community hospice provides for people with a life limiting condition. It’s also an opportunity for BNI NZ and Hospice NZ to celebrate their strong and enduring relationship.

Mary Schumacher, Chief Executive Hospice NZ, remarks that BNI NZ has been a significant contributor to hospices over a long period of time. “The organisation’s generosity over the years has allowed hospice services to continue supporting people as they approach the end of their lives completely free of charge.” says Schumacher. “We’re very grateful for BNI’s ongoing support for hospices throughout the country,” she continues, “the relationship is very important to us not only financially through the hard work they undertake to raise funds but also when it comes to engaging with the community in which their businesses operate.”

BNI NZ is a national partner to Hospice New Zealand and its networking groups of some 2600 business people across the country regularly fundraise for the hospice service they are partnered with in their local community.

According to Graham Southwell, National Director of BNI NZ, there is a perfect synergy between the two organisations because of their shared common values. “BNI’s philosophy is about ‘giver’s gain’ and growing successful businesses within the community they operate in. Hospice is about supporting communities in which people live. Doing good, is good for business. Both of our organisations share values of people connecting with people and developing relationships based on trust,” says Southwell.

“Hospice Awareness Week is a great opportunity for our members to reflect on the relationship with hospices and the important contributions they have made to this vital organisation,” Southwell says. “I want to personally thank all the small businesses who have gone beyond networking and have made a real contribution to the community. Their enthusiasm and hard work over many years is something to be celebrated.”

Hospice Awareness Week runs from 18-24 May. As a national initiative hospices throughout New Zealand will participate with different events. This national week is about raising awareness of hospice services in the community - helping people to understand the ways in which hospice services provide care and support for people with a life limiting condition.

About BNI

BNI New Zealand, established in 1999, is the country’s largest structured business networking organisation for small to medium businesses. With over 2,600 members and 120 groups around the country, from January 2014-2015 locally these groups generated over $69 million in business.

As a business community, BNI helps create business opportunities through a structured system of referrals and reciprocity, based on trust and giving. Weekly business owners from all types of industries (only one trade representative per group) meet. They build sustainable relationships with other businesses, develop new networks and take BNI’s underlying philosophy of ‘Givers Gain’ to grow their businesses. www.bni.co.nz

About Hospice NZ & Hospice

Hospice is a philosophy of care, not a building – most people are cared for in the community. As an organisation it is firmly grounded in the community, with over 11,300 people volunteering over 1 million hours of their time for hospice during 2014.

The concept of care encompasses the whole person, not just their physical needs, but also their emotional, spiritual, and social needs too. This care extends beyond the person who is unwell to include their family, whanau; support is available both before and after a death. Irrespective of where a person lives, this philosophy of care does not change and everything provided is free of charge.

As an essential health service provider, hospices receive the majority of funding from Government; financial support from the community is essential to meet the shortfall – in 2015 that total is more than $45M nationally. www.hospice.org.nz

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