A newly launched Timaru organisation aims to ensure no one dies alone.

The new initiative has been established to provide companionship for people who are approaching the end of their life.

The project is being hosted by Hospice and guided by a group of community volunteers.

Founder and palliative medical specialist Dr Catherine D’Souza said the organisation was not just for those people who had no-one to be with them.

 With the process of dying sometimes going on for days, “families need time to sleep and eat”.

“There might be gaps when some one is not with them.

“It could be up to an hour, but what if they need something?”

The idea had come from a speaker at an event she had organised.

It had been inspired by the question “how do we improve care for people?”.

“Our nurses are too busy, but what do we have?”

She said the answer was a community that was “very good” at looking after each other.

 While 100 years ago people might have known how to deal with death, nowadays some people might avoid those who were grieving by crossing the street.

Despite the change in society,  many people had already expressed interest in becoming a volunteer.

 While it was not common, sometimes people had family overseas, and for those people the service would ensure they had someone, Dr D’Souza said. 

 The project had been made possible thanks to the “generous support” of the Sophia Street Car Park Trust and an anonymous donor, whose funding was helping turn the vision into reality.

 The investment reflected a shared commitment to building a more caring and connected community where compassion extended to everyone, regardless of their circumstances.

While selection was under way for a project co-ordinator to lead the service, more  community members who would like to become volunteers were wanted.

Volunteers would receive training and ongoing support before providing bedside companionship to people at the end of life.

“No previous healthcare experience is required — just empathy, reliability, and a willingness to be present for others.”

The initiative was a Compassionate Communities project, Dr D’Souza said.

The community recognised caring for one another was everyone’s responsibility.

By working together, neighbours, volunteers, healthcare providers and community organisations could help ensure every person was treated with dignity, kindness, and compassion at the end of their life.

This was notDr D’Souza’s only volunteer role.

With countless roles under her belt — along with a busy career —  she said the secret to her endless energy was “I don’t watch TV”.

 It could be in her genes, as her mother and father were in their late ’70s and early ’80s and were still proactive in their community. Some of the “old people” they cared for were younger than they were.