We were honoured to have All Black legend and Crusader Richie Mo’unga speak at a function for local lawyers and accountants at the Charity Hospital. There was a question and answer session hosted by trustee Richard Smith followed by a presentation by chairman Phil Bagshaw about what’s been happening at the hospital.
Richie Mo‘unga with Phil Bagshaw.
The Chalky Carr Trust was established by Kevin ”Chalky” Carr in the face of terminal pancreatic cancer to make a positive and practical difference for those impacted and bound together by cancer.
Since then the Trust has raised well over half a million dollars and completed several projects including a $100,000 trust fund for a little girl who lost her mum to cancer; Chalky’s Chairs – specialist oncology chairs at Christchurch Hospital; Chalky’s Cars, a taxi service for those undergoing cancer treatment and Chalky Carr Scholarships to support tertiary students at the University of Canterbury, Ara and Lincoln University who have been affected by cancer.
Chalky’s legacy continues with the Trust’s latest initiative to raise $100,000 for the Canterbury Charity Hospital which provides bowel screening for those under 50 years who have been referred to the public system but not met the criteria for public investigation. Stuff reporter Jo McKenzie-McLean, who has stage four bowel cancer, gave the keynote address at the recent Chalky Carr Trust Party at Te Pae about the difficulties accessing bowel screening after she had symptoms that warranted further investigation. In New Zealand, younger patients have limited public access to investigation due to resource limitations and a more stringent set of criteria.
The fundraising started with Nic Gill, Sam Whitelock and Brad Mooar rode Wattbikes in a 24-hour marathon in MIQ. Together with the recent event at Te Pae, the Chalky Carr Trust is proud to have raised over $100,000 for the charity hospital’s bowel screening service.
From left to right: Chalky Carr Trust patron Gemma McCaw, Jo McKenzie-McLean and Trustee Dr Sarah Carr at the Party at Te Pae. Image courtesy of Chalky Carr Trust .
The Charity Hospital team is very grateful to the Melbourne-based medical orchestra, Corpus Medicorum, who performed in Christchurch to raise funds for the hospital. It was an amazing concert and was greeted with enthusiasm by the audience. A stand-out was the solo by guest cellist Catherine Kwak who is also a first year doctor at Middlemore Hospital. Thank you to Phillip Antippa and Corpus Medicorum orchestra for your generosity.
Ilam Toyota has very generously donated a new vehicle for lease to the hospital to replace their aging vehicle.
“We are very grateful to have such a modern vehicle to use for transporting patients and equipment as well as assisting us with fundraising.” says Carl.
“We are really excited to have the opportunity to support Canterbury Charity Hospital, and the incredible work they do for our local community. Their new RAV4 GX will provide the team and patients with a safe and reliable method of transport. We are very proud to help out such a worthy cause,” says Ilam Toyota branch manager Paul Taylor.
Ilam Toyota sales manager Elize De Goede hands over the keys for the RAV4 to Carl Shaw from the Charity Hospital.
The Charity Hospital’s main fundraising event has has to be postponed. The Roaring 20’s Charity Ball is now being held on Friday 2 December 2022 at the Limes Room in the iconic Christchurch Town Hall.
“Our annual fundraising evening is always a fun night and helps us raise the $900,000 we need each year to help Cantabrians access the services they need,” said Rosie Graham, Fundraising Co-ordinator at the Charity Hospital.
Tickets will be available for sale online at www.charityhopsital.org.nz from 1 July 2022 but feel free to contact (rosie@charityhospital.org.nz) in the meantime if you have any queries or would like to donate an auction item.
Achieving health equity by 2040 is possible if the Government follows recommendations from a road map developed at a conference hosted by Charity Hospital chairman Philip Bagshaw (pictured) and trustee Sue Bagshaw and co-sponsored with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
The conference was attended by over 200 health professionals from around New Zealand and internationally and their input produced the Creating Solutions Te Ara Whai Tika: A road map to health equity 2040 report which clearly outlines the steps required to achieve health equity.
Health equity is defined as people have differences in health that are not only avoidable but unfair and unjust. Equity recognises different people with different levels of advantage require different approaches and resources to get equitable health outcomes
“The reasons for health inequity are well known,” says Philip. “The distribution of power, money and resources influences everyday life. The richest one per cent of our population has 70 times more assets than the rest of the population.”
There are ways to reverse the widening social and economic gaps. These include addressing unmet need by abolishing user charges for primary care, regular population surveys of unmet need and strengthening polices to address poverty by setting the minimum wage to be the same as the living range.
Despite the New Zealand Health Strategy of 2000 addressing health equity, Maori life expectancy is more than seven years less than non-Maori and the poorest New Zealanders can expect to live 10 years less.
Other recommendations in the report include ensuring health and affordable social housing, improved health education in schools and improved training for health professionals.
For more information please email info@charityhospital.org,nz
