‘These little moments of appreciation are often what is needed while wading through our daily grind.’
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Waikato Hospital emergency nurse Tracy Chisholm said it was the second year running coffee vouchers had appeared “out of the blue” to acknowledge what Biddulph describes as the work, compassion and commitment of nurses.
“These little moments of appreciation are often what is needed while wading through our daily grind — and the caffeine boost always helps!” she said.
The Waikato man behind the gesture manages family-run educational publishers, the Biddulph Group. He told Kaitiaki one of his main purposes was to help others, and his motto was “lead with kindness”.
It was in August 2021, bang in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and media coverage of frontline staffing pressures, that Biddulph decided hard-working nurses needed some appreciation. He contacted NZNO — Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa offering to shout some of Auckland’s frontline nurses morning tea or lunch to the tune of $1000.
Later that month, after reading about thieves targeting nurses’ cars at Auckland Hospital, Biddulph was again moved to help out and — with the help of NZNO staff — distributed cafe and supermarket vouchers to nurses at Middlemore Hospital emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU), as well as nurses at Waikato Hospital’s ED, ICU, neo-natal intensive care unit and delivery suite.
Since then, he reckons he’s donated about $15,000 to reach about 1700 nurses and midwives at Auckland and Waikato hospitals and medical centres.
‘Seen and valued’
Waikato Hospital clinical midwife manager Heidi Strother said it was a “lovely surprise” for midwives to be acknowledged for the hard work they do.
“Here in delivery suite, we all hugely appreciated Chris’s kindness and generosity in organising these vouchers for us. It made us feel seen and valued.”
‘During the pandemic, more people thought about the many essential workers, and the need for fairness, equity . . . recognition of their hard work, the risks they were taking’.
The family-run Biddulph Group publishes educational material for schools and early childhood education. The sale of its literacy programmes Reading Together, Te Pānui Ngātahi and Early Reading Together had allowed it to support a number of organisations, including the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society and Waikato Community Hospice Trust as well as environmental causes in recent years, he said.
COVID ‘reaffirmed’ the need for social justice
Biddulph has also been a long-time volunteer at community athletic events, supporting athletes with disabilities and guiding walks in support of mental health in the Waikato region.
For him and his family, the impact of COVID had “reaffirmed” the importance of social justice, fairness, equity and opportunities for all, said Biddulph. He wanted to recognise the hard work of nurses in a predominantly female profession.
“During the pandemic, more people thought about the many essential workers, and the need for fairness, equity (particularly where the majority of workers were female), recognition of their hard work, the risks they were taking, and so on.”