New charity to receive $1.2 million donation

New charity to receive $1.2 million donation at tonight’s launch

The Māia Health Foundation is set to take Canterbury’s health service from good to great thanks to a significant gift to be announced at tonight’s launch, while New Zealanders now have a new way to support Canterbury’s health system.

Endorsed by cricketer Brendon McCullum, singer Bic Runga and inspirational young cancer survivor Jake Bailey, the Māia Health Foundation promises to enhance health care across a number of areas. Māia chief executive, Michael Flatman, says the foundation’s first two projects will be game changers.

“We are committed to raising $5.2 million in our first two and a half years in support of these important projects for Christchurch Hospital’s new building. With gifting from within our community, we can contribute $3.2m to the enhancement of children's facilities to help provide a playground, parent beds, activity rooms, family rooms and other spaces.”

“We also want to add a $2 million extension to the planned helipad so it can meet growing demand, allowing for two helicopters to use it at the same time, along with a rooftop clinical support unit where patients can be treated immediately on touchdown,” says Flatman.

At tonight’s launch the Rainbow Children’s Trust will announce its commitment of $1.2 million to Māia towards the redevelopment of the children’s health facilities in the hospital. Chair of the Rainbow Children’s Trust, Lee Robinson, says the Trust was formed in 1998 specifically to support paediatric services at Christchurch Hospital.

“The establishment of the Māia Health Foundation provides us with the opportunity to contribute these funds towards the cause for which they have always been intended – new specialist children’s facilities at the hospital – and it is with the greatest of pleasure that we do so today. We believe strongly that all children should have access to the best possible healthcare. Our children deserve nothing less,” says Robinson.

Flatman says that launching Māia will help the South Island to catch up with its northern neighbours.

“In Canterbury, we haven’t before had a channel to give charitably to our district health board. It is something the North Island does well, with the likes of the Starship, Middlemore and Well Foundations. With the launch of Māia, we can start to achieve some much needed enhancements across our health system, while providing our community an avenue for charitable, tax deductible, giving,” he says.

“There will never be enough funds to do everything we need to in health. Health foundations such as Māia recognise that, and we are calling on the community to help us out. We’re ambitious, and here for the long term. While we are launching with two vital projects our long term vision is to create an endowment fund for health enhancements in our community,” says Flatman.

Māia will also provide a streamlined system for managing existing and future bequests, with the ability for such gifts to be tagged to individual projects.

“Māia’s work is going to quickly make a noticeable difference in some key areas, as well as preparing for future generations. We are all about taking the health system from good to great” says Flatman.

You can now get involved at Māiahealth.org.nz

ENDS

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