To celebrate the shortest day as well as help support the Waipuna Hospice, members of the Tauranga Sunrise Rotary club donned shorts for their breakfast meeting on Friday.

Waipuna Hospice once again challenged the bravest of the brave in the Tauranga community to get on board the ‘Life is short, wear Shorts4Hospice' campaign.

The campaign is a light-hearted way to raise the subject of end of life care and community involvement with a fun and easy participation activity.

'The funds raised will go a long way in helping 1 in 3 people in our community who already use or will use hospice services,” says a spokesperson for the organisation.

This year, Waipuna Hospice expects to care for 1000 patients and provide support services for their families.

Last year, nurses made more than 9642 visits and over 19,800 phone calls to patients in the community.

They have 141 staff that work in a variety of full and part-time roles, and a volunteer team of around 800 people.

Members of the Tauranga Sunrise Rotary club wearing shorts at their breakfast meeting on Friday, as part of a fundraiser supporting Shorts4Hospice.

The Tauranga Sunrise Rotary club's fierce effort at the fashion fundraiser was incorporated into a regular breakfast meeting for the club, with members contributing 'paper money' to a collection.

Shorts4Hospice ambassador and local radio host, Will Johnston from the HITZ Bay of Plenty has encouraged all locals to be brave and bare their legs on in support of their local hospice.

'It's the shortest day of the year and we want you to wear shorts for a great cause. Let's reconnect to our community after lockdown and come together to support our local hospice.”

As a charity, all of Waipuna Hospice services are provided at no cost to patients and their families, but to be able to do this and support our local community they need to raise over $4.75 million this year.

For more information visit www.waipunahospice.org.nz/shorts