St Patrick's Day gets green light from hospice

Butterflies - The Hospice Shop will be all decked out in green, as demonstrated by shop...
Butterflies - The Hospice Shop will be all decked out in green, as demonstrated by shop supervisor Robyn Elliman (left) and Otago Community Hospice funding and marketing co-ordinator Lyn Chapman, ahead of St Patrick’s Day celebrations on March 17.
Butterflies - The Hospice Shop is a vision in green as staff get into the spirit ahead of St Patrick's Day, March 17.

This is the sixth year The Hospice Shop, in Hanover St, has got in behind the celebration, and shop supervisor Robyn Elliman is looking forward to ‘‘bedlam'' in the days ahead.

‘‘We always have hundreds of people coming in looking for items to wear on St Patrick's Day,'' Mrs Elliman said.

‘‘It is great fun helping people to put together that special outfit.

‘‘And it's even better if we happen to see them out and about wearing them - especially young blokes dressing up in green nighties and dresses.

‘‘Dunedin people really get into St Patrick's Day - from our observations it is the biggest celebration day of the year,'' Mrs Elliman said.

St Patrick's Day was an excellent fundraiser for the Otago Community Hospice, with about $10,000 raised each year through selling green items in the week before the day.

Most were garments donated by the public and sold for around $2, although The Hospice Shop also had a team of 20 ‘‘St Patrick's Day knitters'' who produced hundreds of green scarves and hats for the occasion, Mrs Elliman said.

‘‘I squirrel it all away during the year and then we have the whole shop decked out in green during March.''

Otago Community Hospice funding and marketing coordinator Lyn Chapman said Dunedin people's eagerness to wear green for St Patrick's Day was a great boost for the hospice.

- The Otago Community Hospice is to benefit from the auction of a three-bedroom house, built during the past month on the Leviathan Hotel carpark in a join project between Certified Builders and Mitre 10 Mega.

About 600 hours of building work has gone into the project, mostly on evenings and weekends, on top of 40-hour weeks for the builders.

Open days will be held at the house this Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 2pm, before auctioneer Wayne Graham auctions the house at 2.15pm on March 21.

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