The NZ Life & Leisure spring luncheon was huge success, raising $6500 for Ranui House.

The sun was out, the wine was flowing and the conversation was rich and colourful at the NZ Life & Leisure Reader’s Spring Luncheon at Stoneridge Estate in Lake Hayes last week. The event raised $6500 money for Ranui House, the South Island’s home for those undergoing medical treatment at Christchurch hospital.

Jane Falconer of Clachanburn Country Garden spoke about her work creating a Garden of National Significance and how she and her family benefited from Ranui House while her granddaughter Lucy was treated for leukaemia. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when eight-year-old Lucy took the stage to talk about her experiences.
“How wrong I was in thinking that I would be safe in applying mascara for the NZ Life and Leisure spring luncheon,” said Otago reader Jane Leahy.

“Mascara remains one of those make-up accessories I reserve for special occasions but where there is no risk of tears and the resulting smudges. We were moved to tears by Jane Falconer’s story of her granddaughter’s leukaemia and of meeting the young Lucy herself.”
An additional $1600 raffle tickets were sold on the day. Jilly Jardine was the winner of the Annabel Langbein cookbooks and donated her prize back to the raffle pool – in a spur of the moment a local auctioneer attending the event as a guest rose to the challenge and auctioned the books for an additional two thousand dollars!
Readers walked out the door with a special gift of a Lucy’s Rose, a hardy pink shrub rose, disease resistant with a delicate fragrance and glossy foliage. We’d love to see your Lucy Rose’s in bloom, email your photos through to info@lifestylemagazinegroup.co.nz