Donations from afar boost Starship funds

LONG DISTANCE: Five-year-old Lewis Chapman and his family sent more than $100 to the Starship Foundation from the very north of Scotland.

Relevant offers

There's an angel living in Glendowie. Allan Robertson was one of the first to join the Starship Guardian Angel Society when it began in July last year.

The society acknowledges people who have left a gift in their will to Starship children’s hospital.

Now Mr Robertson is encouraging friends and family around the world to support the cause, challenging them to be the furthest from New Zealand to send a donation.

So far five-year-old Lewis Chapman is winning.

Lewis and his family sent a £50 donation from Wick in the very north of Scotland, which converted to NZ$108.

Mr Robertson has been a long-term supporter of Starship.

He says he is always thinking of new ideas to help the foundation.

"It’s the unavoidable and the avoidable. The unavoidable is when a child gets cancer. The avoidable is the number of children who end up in Starship because of abuse.

"It needn’t happen. Starship has to pick up the pieces," Mr Robertson says.

The society has already received donations from Australia and Dubai all thanks to Mr Robertson’s encouragement.

He hopes it’s something that will catch on with the idea being that distance is no barrier to supporting children at Starship.

Starship treats more than 100,000 children from around New Zealand each year.

Donations are an extra to government funding and provide a variety of initiatives such as new technology, vital research and family support.

Anyone interested in leaving a gift to Starship in their will can contact Nina Tomaszykon 307-4949 or ninat@adhb.govt.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News