Otago Community Hospice

27/03/2026

📢📢 RECRUITING DUNEDIN VOLUNTEERS FOR WEEKENDS AT OUR VOGEL ST OP SHOP!! 📢📢 10am - 1pm or 1pm - 4pm weekly or fortnightly - get in touch volunteer@otagohospice.co.nz 🧡

...we are looking for a few more volunteers to join our amazing Sunday team...if you've got a couple of hours to spare on Sunday come and join us...great shop, great team and great cause, supporting our Hospice!

24/03/2026

Only a handful of tickets left for Kevin toolis’s talk tonight at the regent theatre in Dunedin. Rave revues coming out of Timaru about his talk there last night. Get in quick if you would like to come https://events.humanitix.com/otago-hospice-how-the-irish-teach-us-to-live-love-and-die

How The Irish Teach Us To Live, Love and Die - A talk on the importance of seeing the dead and sharing their company.
We are hosting a public talk by Kevin Toolis, a renowned writer, poet and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday the 25th from 6-7pm. Tickets are just $10.
Kevin has written for the New York Times and The Guardian. His TED talk has been viewed more than 255,000 times. His acclaimed books, My Father’s Wake and 9 Rules to Conquer Death, explore how community and tradition help us accept and embrace our mortality.
You can buy tickets for his talk here
https://events.humanitix.com/otago-hospice-how-the-irish-teach-us-to-live-love-and-die
If you cannot make his evening talk, you can see him the following day at the Otago Museum. March 26, 1pm - 2pm. To book go to https://events.humanitix.com/dunedin-you-never-forget-your-first-corpse-do-you

19/03/2026

📢📢📢 WE'RE RECRUITING for a Registered Nurse in Dunedin
Are you a Registered Nurse seeking meaningful work that makes a real difference in people’s lives? Do you have, or are keen to develop expertise in palliative care? This is an exceptional opportunity to join a dedicated, values-driven team at Otago Community Hospice. We are seeking a committed Registered Nurse with strong interpersonal skills and a genuine interest in holistic, person-centred care. Based primarily in our In-Patient Unit, these casual roles also offer scope to participate in the wider service, including community-based work.
Applications close: 5pm, Friday 3 April 2026 https://otagohospice.elmotalent.co.nz/careers/careers/job/view/85

19/03/2026

📢📢📢WE'RE RECRUITING for a Wānaka Shop Supervisor
Permanent - Part Time
Our vibrant Wānaka Hospice shop is looking for a dynamic team member who thrives in a busy work environment. The role requires a keen eye for curating while processing a high volume of donated goods. You will have numerous interactions everyday with our many varied donors and shoppers as well as our strong volunteer workforce. If you are an energetic people person with excellent communication skills, retail experience and an understanding of the second-hand market please contact us today. To submit your application (Including CV and cover letter) please click here: https://otagohospice.elmotalent.co.nz/careers/careers/job/view/86 Applications close: 5pm Monday 6 April 2026.

Applicants must have New Zealand Citizenship, New Zealand Residency, or a valid New Zealand Work Permit.

16/03/2026

When facing a terminal illness, it’s natural to hold onto hope.
It’s also okay to ask honest questions about what might lie ahead.
Walking two paths means allowing space for both.

You might ask:
• What am I hoping for?
• What do I need to plan for, just in case?

Staying hopeful and being prepared are not opposites. They can sit side by side. This balance can help you feel more positive, informed, and in control.

If you or your whānau are navigating a terminal diagnosis, this guide offers gentle prompts to help with these conversations.

Download it here: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/hospicenz/pages/2303/attachments/original/1771972656/Final_7_Keys_Patients_2026.pdf?1771972656

08/03/2026

How The Irish Teach Us To Live, Love and Die - A talk on the importance of seeing the dead and sharing their company.
We are hosting a public talk by Kevin Toolis, a renowned writer, poet and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday the 25th from 6-7pm. Tickets are just $10.
Kevin has written for the New York Times and The Guardian. His TED talk has been viewed more than 255,000 times. His acclaimed books, My Father’s Wake and 9 Rules to Conquer Death, explore how community and tradition help us accept and embrace our mortality.
You can buy tickets for his talk here
https://events.humanitix.com/otago-hospice-how-the-irish-teach-us-to-live-love-and-die
If you cannot make his evening talk, you can see him the following day at the Otago Museum. March 26, 1pm - 2pm. To book go to https://events.humanitix.com/dunedin-you-never-forget-your-first-corpse-do-you

05/03/2026

Look at these stars! Our wonderful volunteers are out in full force today for our Street Appeal - make sure you say hi and drop in a few coins if you can. If you want to donate online, you can go to otagohospice.co.nz/donate Thank you Otago!

05/03/2026

Our annual Street Appeal starts today! Get out and help support palliative care across Otago. Every cent helps!! We couldn't do it without you

26/02/2026

Thank you once again Pete Addis for another awesome T-Shirt design - USA DAY 2026 supporting the Otago Community Hospice, join us on Saturday 7th March at Tahuna Park. Gates open to participants at 8 AM and public 10 AM.

26/02/2026

We are incredibly grateful to BNI New Zealand for funding 16 BNI Palliative Care Scholarships this year.

These scholarships support the professional growth of psychosocial and allied health staff working in hospices across Aotearoa. Behind every patient and whānau is a dedicated team providing counselling, social work, spiritual care, bereavement support, and more. The services are wide-ranging and the depth of care immeasurable. Investing in staff development is a direct investment in the quality of care delivered to patients and their whānau throughout New Zealand.

This year, scholarships support study in social work, occupational therapy, counselling, patient and whānau support, and psychology. These scholarships strengthen palliative care across Aotearoa by giving recipients additional skills to better support patients and whānau through grief, to enhance innovative and culturally responsive care, and to contribute to much needed academic research in this important area.

Importantly, these scholarships help retain highly trained professionals within hospices, strengthening the sustainability and capability of the workforce. Many recipients have dedicated their careers to hospice - walking alongside patients and whānau through some of life’s most challenging moments.

BNI’s commitment to hospice is extraordinary. By investing in people, they strengthen hospice care itself, and help ensure compassionate, high quality, evidence-based care remains available to all who need it.

Thank you, BNI, for your continued partnership and for backing the people who make hospice care possible.

23/02/2026

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/hospice-changes-alongside-region-40-years
Wow - What a journey it's been.
When we first started, Otago Community Hospice wasn’t even a building - it was an idea. Today, we support more than 1000 patients and their whānau each year across the entire Otago region - from coast to coast, up to Waitaki and all the way down to Tapanui.
But we have not done it alone!
From colleagues across the health system, community groups, loyal corporate supporters, tireless shop staff and volunteers, selfless fundraisers, and donors who give what they can, when they can - our success has been a community effort.
Thousands of families have passed through the Hospice’s service, each carrying their own story of love and loss. Behind every patient are loved ones sitting quietly at bedsides, volunteers offering a meal or a kind word, and a community that continues to give, year after year.
“We’ve gone from a dream, to something that’s part of the fabric of our community - something that belongs to all of us. That’s what 40 years of caring looks like.”- Geoff Mirkin, Otago Community Hospice’s first board chairman.
To celebrate our amazing journey, we have a number of events scheduled across 2026, including a commemorative book due for release in December.
We would love to hear from anyone with a hospice experience they think might be worth sharing, A former staff member, volunteer, carer, loved one or even someone receiving our care right now - your story is our story.
https://otagohospice.co.nz/40-years-of-caring/donateyourstory/