Radio Hauraki hosts Jeremy Wells and Matt Heath will next week broadcast a morning show from the Empire Tavern toilets to raise funds for Bowel Cancer New Zealand. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The Radio Hauraki team is putting the “pub” in a public toilet this Wednesday with hosts broadcasting for 12 hours while sitting on toilets on a stage at The Empire Tavern.
The stunt - A Day in Loo - will raise money for Bowel Cancer New Zealand and was created with the station’s dear friend Dai Henwood in mind. The comedian has stage four bowel cancer.
Breakfast hosts Matt Heath and Jeremy Wells will begin the session in the morning with Henwood paying them a visit.
“Dai is an absolute inspiration – he is so positive around this whole situation,” Heath tells Spy.
“Obviously, having someone so close to home going through a situation like that or a good buddy, it really hits it home and it’s hard to even comprehend. It certainly made it very, very real and emphasised the need to do something.”
Heath says the idea came to him when he was camping over summer with a doctor mate. Over a few beers, the doctor told him about New Zealand’s terrible bowel cancer situation and about how hard it is to get the right message across and raise money due to the “embarrassing” nature of the area.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world. More than 3000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year and more than 1200 will die from the disease.
“I thought this is something that we should probably talk about,” Heath says. “Radio Hauraki is a great format to do that because we can lean into it in a way that other people can’t, and we’ve got an audience that will be open to running with a bit of toilet humour.”
The public is welcome to watch the Hauraki stars enthroned at the pub on Auckland’s Victoria Street West.
“We’re going to be sitting on the loo all day broadcasting, because we think that’s the best way we can make a lot of people think about this issue,” says Heath.
“People who come, can expect to hear some good music and chat,” says Heath.
“We’ve got special guests like Jon Toogood, Ekko Park and Pluto performing some songs and a bunch of other entertaining stuff happening. There’ll also be professionals from Bowel Cancer New Zealand on site for anyone who is wanting to talk about or query, and anyone can make a donation at dayinloo.co.nz,” says Heath.
When they’re not on air, the hosts will chat with the crowd and there’s free Cottonsoft toilet paper, which might come in handy.
“It’ll be a good time, supporting a great cause. There will also be a Trade Me auction running for one of the toilets that the entire Radio Hauraki team has sat on, with all proceeds going to Bowel Cancer New Zealand.”
June is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Dean Barker is the latest high-profile Kiwi to open up on his battle with the disease, telling the Herald on Sunday’s Reset magazine he wants to make sure people listen to their bodies and look for symptoms because there’s a high chance that, if caught early, bowel cancer can be treated and sufferers can go on to live a normal life.
An instant $3 donation can be made by texting LOO to 3493 or by heading online to dayinloo.co.nz
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