Family move to help needy

Cranford Hospice general manager Helen Blaxland is travelling to Cambodia, to be a volunteer helping other volunteers for three years, with husband Shane and son Ezra. Photo / Duncan Brown

Helen Blaxland and her family are going to volunteer in Cambodia for the next three years. She said working with Hospices for the past 18 years had given her "a huge appreciation" for the work of volunteers and now it was her turn to give time and skills to help others.

"As a family it will be a wonderful experience to live in a Third World country and expand our worldview," she said.

"We've thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hawke's Bay and have met wonderful people, enjoyed the varied outdoor activities, partaken of fine food and certainly gained an appreciation of fine wine."

With husband Shane she will have an administrative role with OMF International, an interdenominational missionary organisation, providing pastoral care for overseas volunteer workers in Cambodia.

They are making the move from their Havelock North home with 15-year-old son Ezra, who will finish his secondary education at an international school.

They plan to return to Hawke's Bay. She hoped to to explore care for the dying in Cambodia.