Blog Spot by Anna McDonald/Southland Hospital

Last Thursday on November 30th we held a fundraiser at Waxy's Irish Pub in Invercargill
to raise money for the Wishbone Relay with over 80 participants.
The Invercargill community were very receptive to our cause and we were able to secure sponsorship from a number of local businesses including Waxy's, who provided the venue for free, paid the fee for the "Believe it or Not"  quiz, put on a half price dessert special just for the evening  - plus provided a $100 food and beverage voucher for the first place team. 

The Irish pub created a family friendly atmosphere with old and young alike finding a way to join in. Southlanders love a quiz night and we were sold out two weeks in advance!

As well as the general public, there were teams from all over the hospital  - including our theatre staff, clinic and nurse specialists,  admin staff, house officers, registrars and SMO's from the anaesthetics department, general medicine, ED and surgery plus a team from the Inflammatory Bowel Services who went to the trouble of wearing matching purple t-shirts printed with the logo "poo with pride." It was a night for raising awareness that's for sure!

At the end of a great night, the winners were a team from Recycle South who are known to be old hacks on the Southland Quiz circuit - so it was a real honour that they attended. Second place went to a team of medical physicians proving their superior knowledge of trivial facts (no surprises there).

The best part of the night was auctioning off a signed Southland Stags jersey to the highest bidder for twice the recommended retail price - a stellar effort following a one-win NPC season... but we believe they'll be top of the table next year. Up the Stags! 

What resonated on the night was how special it was to bring everyone together outside of work and let off a bit of steam with some healthy competition and freebies.
We plugged the Wishbone Relay throughout the night and hopefully our event is a great kickstart to an epic tour of the country. We raised $2274.30 with zero expenses.
We will be donating this prior to the commencement of the Wishbone Relay.

All the best to Perry, Ian and all the Relay riders, walkers, paddlers, dancers etc - Go well!

We would like to thank the following local businesses for supporting us:
Windsor Physio
Splash Palace
ILT
The Langlands
Solve it and Escape Rooms
Prime Range Fresh
Rugby Southland - The Southland Stags
Waxy's Irish Pub