The hospital project was the vision of cancer-care campaigner Blair Vining, who died of bowel cancer last October. His widow, Melissa Vining, said her husband’s dying wish was for better access to timely healthcare for people in the South.
Bales4Blair was started by three Southland and Otago farmers.
Slopedown sheep farmer Amy Blaikie pitched an idea to friends Brooke Cameron and Sarah Dooley, farmers from Eastern Southland.
To help support the Southland Charity Hospital (SCH), the idea was to get bales of wool donated from Southern farmers to be made into carpet and insulation for the hospital building and the rest auctioned off to support it financially.
"I’ve been pushing for the Government to change some of their procurement policies and get woollen insulation and carpet into government buildings ... I thought, ‘Lets start it at home’," Ms Blaikie said.
As they were buying a brick for the hospital through its fundraiser, they wanted to come up with an idea how they, as farmers, could support it.
"I’m hoping I will never have to use it but we all know someone who has been touched by cancer."
Farmers from throughout New Zealand were able to donate any full bales of wool, fleece or bellies and pieces, and it would be sorted into lines at the New Zealand Wool Scouring factories.
Any wool not used for the building would be auctioned so proceeds went to the hospital; 200 bales were needed just to cover the building’s insulation but several thousand bales would be needed in total.
She said support had been "amazing".
Bales4Blair started on Monday and will continue through to January.
SCH general manager Helen Robinson said it was a wonderful campaign.
For more information, go to the Bales4Blair Facebook page or contact your wool broker.
