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.

By the community – for the community: that’s the ethos behind the Southland Charity Hospital, which is excited and privileged to announce that Boyd Wilson has volunteered to serve in the vital role of development manager.

Southland Charity Hospital trustee Melissa Vining, wife of the late Blair Vining – whose tireless campaign for better cancer care for all Kiwis attracted plenty of support – says she is thrilled to announce that Boyd, of Bonisch Consultants, has come on board with the project. Boyd’s involvement with the project as it progresses through the building phase of establishing the Southland Charity Hospital was “huge”.

“When you start working on a project like the Southland Charity Hospital, you desperately want a safe pair of hands – and Boyd is the safest pair of hands we could have dreamed of,” she says.

“His expertise has already been invaluable and the fact that he has offered to carry on providing the Southland Charity Hospital with his services is just mind-blowing. This project completely relies on the support of people here in the deep south of New Zealand and his generosity and willingness to be part of what we want to achieve is tremendous.”

Wilson says he is hopeful the hospital could be opened by the end of 2021.

The project needed about $1 million in funding before it could start the build and had so far raised about half of that.

“All going well, with the tail wind continuing the way it has so far with this project and the public continuing to support it, I’m hopeful by the end of next year we could be cutting the ribbon. I think it’s doable, and we’ll certainly be trying to make that happen,” he says.

Concept plans for the Southland Charity Hospital have been released to the public
to mark Blair Vining’s 40th birthday

Southland Charity Hospital concept plans released on Blair Vining’s 40th birthday

On Wednesday May 13, 2020, Blair Vining should have been celebrating his 40th birthday.

The day before New Zealand emerges from Level 3 of its COVID-19 response, the Vining family’s tribute to their husband and father is particularly poignant.

Why? Because Blair’s legacy, the development of the Southland Charity Hospital, has leapt several paces closer to becoming a reality.

The Southland Charity Hospital project, propelled into existence during Blair Vining’s epic fight and tireless campaign to ensure all Kiwis have equal access to cancer care, has become ever more tangible, thanks to the release of its much-anticipated concept plans.

Managed by Boyd Wilson and the team at Invercargill-based Bonisch Consultants, the concept plans for the Southland Charity Hospital are an incredible way for the family to honour Blair on his birthday, his wife Melissa Vining says. Blair lost his battle with bowel cancer in October 2019.

“Marking what would have been Blair’s milestone birthday this year is fraught with sadness,” Melissa says.

“It’s incredibly tough to have this big, special day that should have been full of celebration, and should have been an opportunity for our family to look towards the next stage of our lives together, now looming without Blair here.

“It’s particularly difficult because of the global crisis we are in with COVID-19, which means we are unable to share this day with our support network of friends and family. Our daughters, Della-May and Lilly, and I are full of gratitude for everybody who has worked so hard to get the Southland Charity Hospital to the point it is now at today. Seeing Blair’s dream start to become a reality means so much to us this year. These concept drawings are a reminder of everything Blair fought for, and they make this project feel much more real.”

The public lent a huge source of support to Blair in his campaign for an end to the “postcode lottery” and his battle to ensure all New Zealanders were able to access adequate cancer treatment, she says.

“Seeing Blair’s dreams one step closer to reality of course reduced me to tears. It’s a reminder of everything he dedicated his life to, and the people who put their hands up to help him. Seeing the logos designed by Phil and the team at Back9 Creative, all the details like the operating theatre and recovery room, the whanau room – all the things Blair dreamed of, in pictures in front of our eyes, brings the girls and I so much joy.

“When I see the concept drawings of the hospital, I see all the love and support of the Southland community. That’s what brought it to life.”

The project was buoyed by the generosity of the ILT, which gifted a building and land package to the Southland Charity Hospital in February.

Boyd Wilson, of Bonisch Consultants, led the preparation of the concept drawings.

“The building gifted by ILT really was a fantastic blank canvas for the Southland Charity Hospital project, and it’s a gift that has really given the project a huge head-start in terms of actually coming to fruition,” he says.

Steps undertaken to date had included assessing the site suitability of a handful of potential buildings for the hospital, meeting with Dr Phil Bagshaw of the Canterbury Charity Hospital to discuss requirements for the facility in the south, and working with the team to develop the concept plans. Next steps would include the preparation of the resource consent application, as well as developing detailed design plans, he says.

The concept for the hospital had paid particular attention to creating a multi-purpose facility designed with the future in mind: for instance, the operating theatre has been designed to the same standard and size as a full-scale operating theatre that could be used for more intensive surgeries, rather than the exploratory procedures the Southland Charity Hospital intends to initially perform. Provision has also been made for a dental suite.

“The needs of the hospital next year may not be the same needs it has in 10 years, so it was vital that we developed a building that would evolve alongside the needs of the community,” Wilson says.

It was pleasing to be able to present the concept plans to not only the Southland Charity Hospital Trust but to the Vining family, he says.

“The plans are more than words, they’re more than talk – it’s the next step, and it’s becoming more real.”

The Southland Charity Hospital is an enduring legacy to Blair. At his memorial service, a farewell video from Blair made clear how much the hospital’s development meant to him (video attached). After bidding “sayonara people”, Blair urged Kiwis to support the project.

“These things are going to save lives, and it’s really important to me,” he said.



GPs throughout the Southern District Health Board zone – from south of the Waitaki River – are being urged to make use of the Southland Charity Hospital’s referral system for diagnostic colonoscopy services.

The news comes shortly after New Zealand Cancer Society medical director, Dr Christopher Jackson, told the Epidemic Response Committee that 400 Kiwis may lose their lives due to the lack of diagnostic testing during Levels 3 and 4 of New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown.

“That is predictable, that is measurable, that is identifiable, that is foreseeable and is something we can and we must avoid.”

Dr Jackson said based on UK research, it was predicted if there was a three-month average delay in diagnosis and management of cancer, 400 lives would be lost in New Zealand.

“There are cancer types such as oesophageal, gastric cancer, liver, pancreas and colon cancer where delays in the management of cancer do result in measurable and immediate reductions in survival. If we don’t do these colonoscopies, endoscopies, biopsies and scans, lives will be lost,” Jackson told the committee.

However, the Southland Charity Hospital has collaborated with Southern Cross to access its Invercargill-based hospital to provide colonoscopies to those that meet the SCH criteria almost immediately. Medical staff will volunteer their time and expertise to perform the colonoscopy procedure for patients, while Southern Cross has agreed to donate its facilities to the cause.



An ‘unbelievably generous’ donation from ILT will ensure more people will be able to live happy and healthy lives alongside their families.

The mission of the Southland Charity Hospital has been given a major boost with ILT donating a building and land package.

The Clifton Club Inn will be repurposed and transformed into the Southland Charity Hospital. The process is expected to take several months and a date for this project to be completed is currently unknown.

The building is in close proximity to Southland Hospital.

Southland Charity Hospital Trust chairman Dr Murray Pfeiffer said the generosity of ILT could not be understated.

“This is an unbelievably generous gift to the people of the south, and will ensure more members of our community are able to access vital health treatment they need,” he said.

“The Southland Charity Hospital would have conceivably needed to raise in excess of two million dollars in donations to build or buy a location suitable for its needs. The trust has instead substantially catapulted the Southland Charity Hospital forward, which means we will be able to provide treatment to our community far sooner than we would have otherwise been able.”

ILT chairman Alan Dennis said the organisation had been committed to supporting the charity hospital since its inception.

“This decision will save lives. That’s an incredibly powerful thing,” he said.

“We are for our community and that’s been the driving force over the past few months as we’ve investigated ways for ILT to provide a meaningful impact.

“We’re immensely proud this will enable the hospital project to reach its operational targets much sooner than initially envisioned.”

Chief executive Chris Ramsay confirmed discussions had taken place with staff at the Clifton Inn and all would be reassigned roles at other ILT establishments.

“We were always motivated to find a way to make a significant contribution to such a worthy project. Once we reviewed the best future use of the Clifton it became clear this would be a fantastic way for this asset to benefit our community,” he said.

The Southland Charity Hospital Trust was established in 2019 following Winton man Blair Vining’s highly-publicised journey navigating New Zealand’s health system. After being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2018 Blair was told he had weeks to live, but chronic under-resourcing of the health service in his region meant he was unlikely to see a specialist before cancer took his life. He and his wife Melissa worked tirelessly to reform the system and make access to cancer care equitable for all Kiwis.

One of Blair’s greatest legacies is the formation of the Southland Charity Hospital. The hospital was founded by the community, for the community. When established it will provide free services to those in the southern community who cannot access care from the public or private health systems.

Melissa Vining said she was “blown away” by the generous support of ILT.

“I was in tears the whole way from Invercargill to Winton. It’s just such an incredible gift for the people of our community and makes me so proud of where I come from,” she said.

“I just don’t think something like this would have happened anywhere else in the country. Southlanders are renowned for supporting those who need it, but I never could have imagined an organisation doing what ILT has just done. It’s indescribable.”

It was not the first time an ILT establishment had been converted into the community asset – 10 years ago Don Lodge became the Enrich@ILT educational facility for students with outstanding academic or creative ability.

Initially the Southland Charity Hospital will provide colonoscopies with the intention to expand the services it provides in time. The Southland Charity Hospital is modelled on the successful Canterbury Charity Hospital, which has helped thousands of patients since its inception in 2007.

Advisor to the board of the Southland Charity Hospital Trust, Dr Phil Bagshaw from the Canterbury Charity Hospital, was equally stunned at the generosity of ILT.

“I knew that, when the decision to form the Southland Charity Hospital Trust was made, the people of Southland would throw their weight behind such a worthy cause. However, I never could have predicted the speed with which this project would move,” he said.

“The hospital is now even closer to becoming a reality, and that is thanks to the support of ILT.”

The Southland Charity Hospital will not receive any Government funding. It will rely solely on donations, grants and the generosity of the wider community keen to help southerners in need. Patients of the Southland Charity Hospital will come from the Southern District Health Board zone: this covers both the Southland and Otago regions.

Its workforce will be made up of medical professionals donating their time and expertise to the cause. In addition to the expertise of medical professionals, many people in the community will be required to help with progressing the hospital.

Tradespeople able to assist with repurposing the Southland Charity Hospital’s building are urgently required. Those who are able to assist can get in touch with the board here

The trustees elected to the Southland Charity Hospital Board are:

Dr Murray Pfeiffer (Chair)

Neil McAra

Melissa Vining

Janet Copeland

Roger Wandless

Chris Menzies

Advisor to the Board: Dr Phil Bagshaw

For further information, please contact Southland Charity Hospital communications manager Alana Dixon-Calder on 027 7428 817.