As Te Anau’s largest op shop, Alison McFadgen really sees the benefits the hospice shop provides the local community.

“Te Anau’s never had a large second-hand shop before and there’s a huge need for affordable things, so the Hospice Shop is great for the community,” she says. “The fact it’s for hospice is even better.”

Alison McFadgen peruses the bookshelves of Hospice Southland's Te Anau shop.

Alison, who’s lived in the resort town for 32 years, helps at the shop for three hours on a Wednesday. She’s been a volunteer for two years and is usually out the back sorting through donated books to add to the bookshelves. 

Those shelves are much bigger thanks to the move late last year to a larger premise at 66 Town Centre. The shop was previously at 104 Town Centre, where it opened in October 2017.

When she’s not in the hospice shop Alison works cleaning houses for Bachcare. That involves hours toiling away tidying people’s holiday homes rented out for use by visitors.

While you won’t see Alison at the front counter, from the chance conversations she has with customers she knows it’s meeting their needs.

Someone who’s more comfortable at the till is Jenny Labruyere, a semi-retired office administrator. Jenny worked at Southland District Council’s Te Anau office for 15 years, and in pharmacy and retail roles before that.

Jenny Labruyere managing the till at Hospice Southland's Te Anau shop.

“Working at the counter is a great way of meeting a lot of customers; I’m people focused,” she says. “It’s nice to chat with families and the other volunteers each week. We’re all here for the same purpose.”

Jenny, who has been volunteering at the shop for 18 months, also does pricing and display. She particularly enjoys tracking down hard-to-find items. “I feel satisfaction when I find just the right item for a customer.

“I volunteer because I have spare time on my hands, and hospice is a great cause. The shop creates good connections when people come in to browse and chat about things. 

“The new shop is very good for hospice and timely for Te Anau with some shops now empty.”

Hospice's Te Anau shop manager, Cheryl Chittock adds “I appreciate all my volunteers. They are kind caring and hardworking. They give their time freely to support a worthy cause. Everyone takes pride in the shop keeping it always tidy, and they so appreciate all the customer comments telling them how beautiful our shop looks. They are all awesome.”