Southland Charity Hospital, SBS Bank
Southland Charity Hospital manager Helen Robinson meets with SBS Bank chief executive Shaun Drylie.
Photo: Dakota Brown, Back 9 Creative

The Southland Charity Hospital has partnered with SBS Bank to ensure everybody can get behind its wildly successful ‘Buy A Brick’ fundraising campaign.

Media and communications manager Alana Dixon-Calder says the Southland Charity Hospital team is thrilled to have the support of the Invercargill-based bank.

“The public response to our Buy A Brick campaign has been off-the-charts. The whole team has been blown away by the number of people who have wanted to get involved and support our cause. We wanted to make sure that everybody who was keen to get behind the hospital was able to do so. To have SBS come on board and offer a place for people to make in-person donations is huge for us,” she says.

“We say the hospital is by the community, for the community, and our Buy A Brick campaign has been the epitome of that. People have really responded to the idea of being part of a lasting tribute to the community support that has turned the charity hospital from an idea to a reality,” Ms Dixon-Calder says.

SBS Bank chief executive Shaun Drylie said his team was delighted to be able to provide the community with a way to donate and help make a difference.

“We’ve made it possible for anyone to visit an SBS branch around the country to donate via cash or cheque directly to the campaign. And we haven’t limited it just to our Invercargill, Windsor and Gore branches – if there are Southlanders living in the likes of Tauranga, Christchurch, Hamilton or wherever one of our branches is, then they’re able to show their support.

“This is an ongoing commitment for SBS Bank and something we’ll offer long-term – if people want to make a donation in person then we’ll be able to make it happen.”

The charity hospital began selling supporter’s bricks in exchange for donations in July. These can be engraved with a personal message, and will form the path from the hospital’s carpark to its doors. Supporters can alternatively purchase granite commemorative plaques. These will be placed on-site in a memorial garden dedicated to cancer care advocate, the late Blair Vining. The charity hospital’s first-ever Buy A Brick Day, which encouraged schools and businesses around the country to don red, white and black to raise funds to buy the supporter’s bricks, was held on Friday. Its initial goal of reaching $1 million was met on the day.

So far the Buy A Brick campaign has sold more than 7000 and 280 commemorative plaques. Sales have come from far-flung places including Norway and the United States, as well as throughout Australia and New Zealand.

When Lyn Brown’s daughter Jess sent her a link to say she’d purchased a supporter’s brick for the Southland Charity Hospital, it reminded the owner of the Waikaia Store, Brown Owl Café and Post Office to jump online and purchase her own.

Little did she know, she would be the person who would help the #buyabrick campaign reach its first milestone: with her donation helping the Southland Charity Hospital’s newly-announced fundraising campaign reach $100,000.

“We wanted to buy one, mainly because it’s a great idea but also because we’ve both lost family members to cancer, so it’s pretty close to the heart,” she says.

“We just thought, if there was anything we could do to support the cause, then we would.”

Lyn was surprised to receive a phone call from Melissa Vining herself – member of the Southland Charity Hospital board and wife to Blair Vining, whose epic fight for better healthcare access for the south was a driving force in the creation of the charity hospital. It was Melissa who told Lyn her donation – in exchange for a supporter’s brick, which will be engraved with both her and husband Lindsay’s names – had helped the Southland Charity Hospital’s Buy a Brick campaign reach $100,000.

Blair was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in 2018 and, after discovering the inequities within New Zealand’s healthcare system because of the ‘postcode lottery’, decided to do something about it. One of the greatest legacies Blair has left behind, following his death in October 2019, is the formation of the Southland Charity Hospital Trust.

Founded by the community, for the community, the Southland Charity Hospital will provide healthcare for those living in the Southern DHB Zone who would otherwise be unable to access treatment through the private or public systems.

“What do I hope for the Southland Charity Hospital? I guess it’s just giving people options in getting treatment and diagnosis earlier. The hospital is going to open so many doors for so many families, and hopefully will take away the stress and anxiety of waiting,” Lyn says.

Her father passed away from bowel cancer a few years ago, while her mother died of cancer 30 years ago. The Brown family has also lost loved ones to cancer recently.

“When Jess said she’d bought a brick, I thought ‘I must remember to do that’,” Lyn says.

“When Melissa rang, I just laughed… I was proud, I was really proud. It’s wonderful that the people behind the Southland Charity Hospital have got this far and they’re actually doing it. I admire Melissa and the Vining family so much. They’re incredible people. It’s so selfless, doing this for the betterment of everybody in Southland. It’s not just for them, it’s about the future. It’s just amazing.”

The Southland Charity Hospital needs to raise an additional $500,000 minimum in donations before it can proceed with refurbishing its building in Invercargill. The building was donated by ILT.

The Buy a Brick campaign will culminate in the first-ever Buy a Brick Day, to be held on 31 July. The hospital hopes to encourage Kiwi businesses, schools and organisations to hold a Casual Friday and use proceeds from their fundraising efforts to purchase engraved supporter’s bricks, which will form the path from the carpark to the hospital, or commemorative plaques, which will be situated in Blair’s Garden on-site.

To purchase a supporter’s brick or commemorative plaque, visit www.buyabrick.co.nz  

Blair Vining reckoned if everybody in the south bought a brick, together we could build a hospital.

So, we’re going to do just that.

Buy a Brick Day

On Friday 31 July, 2020, the Southland Charity Hospital want to see schools and businesses across New Zealand hold a Casual Friday in support of his legacy, on the first-ever Buy a Brick Day. The public is encouraged to don red, white and black (the colours of the Blair Vining Sports Foundation) to raise funds at their school or workplace, which can then be used to purchase supporter’s bricks as a method of donating much-needed funds to the Southland Charity Hospital.

The hospital will provide access to healthcare to those living in Southland and Otago, who would otherwise be unable to access treatment through the private or public systems.

Blair’s wife, and Southland Charity Hospital board member, Melissa Vining says the campaign is crucial in obtaining the funding required to get the Southland Charity Hospital operational as soon as possible.

“Up and down New Zealand, people have supported Blair and his fight for equitable healthcare since day one. I can’t put into words how much that support has meant to our family. Because of the countless Kiwis who have backed Blair’s calls for an end to the postcode lottery, his dream of creating the Southland Charity Hospital is becoming a reality,” she says.

“The generosity of New Zealanders keen to back this cause has blown us away. We already have $500,000 sitting in the bank in donations – and, if we raise another $500,000, we could start working on the hospital build as soon as 1 August. The sooner we start working on the building, the sooner we can start admitting patients who desperately need our help.”

“Every little bit helps, and we’re calling on Kiwis – whether they live here in the deep south or not – to please reach into their pockets, dig out a little bit of loose change, and help us make Blair’s vision a reality,” Vining says.

Register for Buy a Brick Day

What are supporter’s bricks?

Supporter’s bricks will be available to purchase online at www.buyabrick.co.nz

For a donation of $100, each brick can be engraved with up to two lines of 16 characters each.

This is your way to support the Southland Charity Hospital, and our way to forever recognise the generosity of the people who have backed us.

(Cost to purchase a brick inclusive of engraving. Wording of your choice.)

Get involved in Buy a Brick 2020

  • Organise a Casual Friday (with everybody instructed to wear red, white and black, the colours of the Blair Vining Sports Foundation) at your school or workplace on July 31, 2020
  • Rattle the tin: ask that everybody who takes part in your Casual Friday to chip in so that together you can purchase a supporter’s brick (or three!)
  • Share on social media: we’re on Facebook and Instagram – and we’d love to see what you get up to. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #buyabrick
  • Tell your mates. The Southland Charity Hospital will be accessible to everybody in Southland and Otago, but we’re hoping our friends and family further north get behind our cause too

Buy a Brick: other ways you can contribute

As well as its supporter’s bricks, the Southland Charity Hospital will also offer the public the opportunity to purchase a commemorative plaque in exchange for a donation.

For a donation of $500, these commemorative plaques will serve as a lasting tribute to supporters of the Southland Charity Hospital. The commemorative plaques will be situated in Blair’s Garden, to be created on-site at the Southland Charity Hospital premises. Plaques, like supporter’s bricks, will also be available to purchase online.

Visit www.buyabrick.co.nz for more.