Strawberry festival sweet support for Horowhenua's Arohanui Hospice

If you have a sweet tooth and want to support a worthy cause, Saturday's Strawberry Festival in Levin will tick all the boxes.

Strawberry and ice cream sundaes will be on sale for $5 at Levin New World carpark with live music and entertainment starting at 10am and continuing until the strawberries run out.

The event is organised by Property Brokers Levin to raise funds for Arohanui Hospice, which provides specialist end-of-life care for over 1000 patients.

The hospice service is free and two thirds of patients are cared for in their own homes. Support for their families is also provided.

Hospice spokesperson Kelvin Teixeira said that as only partial funding is provided by MidCentral and Whanganui District Health Boards, over $54,000 must be fundraised every week for the organisation to operate.

"Local businesses and community groups running fundraising events like this and donating proceeds is sincerely appreciated, as are everyone who supports the event," Teixeira said.

Around a third of Arohanui Hospice patients are in Horowhenua and Ōtaki.

Property Brokers spokesperson Jenny Hunter said they were passionate about getting people behind supporting the hospice.

"We like to give back to the community and this is a way that we thought was a little bit different," she said.

Hunter said all the strawberries were supplied by local growers, and all proceeds would go directly to Arohanui Hospice.

She said she hoped the festival would be a great success, and it could potentially go on to become an annual event.

Strawberry Festival - Celebrate a life of Sundaes! Saturday January 26, New World Levin carpark, from 10am.