Eight Weeks of Kindness

Over eight weeks, 24 Radius Care homes took turns planning a random act of kindness. Each home had its own week. What stood out was not the scale, but the feel of it. You could hear it in the kitchen when baking started early, or in the lounge when someone asked, “Do you think they’ll like this?” You could see it in the way residents leaned in together over a craft table, or checked a list twice before heading out.

These weeks reminded us that care is not something one person gives and another receives. Residents were not waiting for kindness. They were making it. They baked for neighbours, knitted for new babies, visited schools, shared songs, and left small gifts where they knew they’d be found. Some acts were planned carefully, others happened on the spot. All of them came from the same place, a wish to be part of something outside the front door.

Elloughton Gardens residents thanked local kindergartens by making handmade cards and gifting children’s reading books to celebrate their special bond.

When residents are supported to give, something shifts. You notice shoulders sit a bit higher. Conversations get livelier. People start suggesting ideas of their own. A resident who is usually quiet might say, “What if we do it this way?” Staff and families step in alongside them, not to take over, but to back them. It becomes a shared effort, the kind that makes a home feel like a community in motion.

This campaign also changed how we see our homes. They are not just places where people are looked after. They are places where people still shape the world around them. A tray of scones dropped to a local group, a blanket handed over with a laugh, a wave at the school gate. These are simple moments, but they carry weight. They say, “We’re here, and we’ve got something to offer.”

What Lasts

Radius Millstream residents knitted and delivered baby hats, blankets, singlets, and other items to maternity wards in Ashburton and Christchurch.

What lasts after the eight weeks is that feeling of mutual care. Kindness moved in every direction, between residents, staff, whānau, and neighbours. It was practical and real. It showed that aging does not close a person off from giving. If anything, it can deepen it.

Random Acts of Kindness were small things done many times. And together, it nudged the story of care back where it belongs: with all of us, doing life alongside each other.

Hearts in Action Across Our Homes

When the care you provide is good enough for the families of your staff, friends, and your own kin, you know you’re doing it right. Radius Care founder Brien Cree shares the story that guides Radius Care’s philosophy of ‘Exceptional People, Exceptional Care’. 

As for so many of us, my mum was always my rock in life. She taught me how to chase my dreams, how to think independently, and how to stand up for myself. She also taught me through our own personal experiences how important it is to advocate not just for ourselves, but for those we love. Especially our elders. This is the whole reason Radius Care exists, and it underpins the way we operate to this day.

My mother wasn’t expected to survive after she had a severe stroke and spent three weeks in a coma. Although she was left paralysed on the right-hand side of her body and was unable to speak, she defied the odds. After time in rehab, she could make herself understood and get around in an electric wheelchair – but she still needed long term care.

Unfortunately, Mum wasn’t well cared for in her care home. To see her lose her dignity and independence was heartbreaking. The way she was treated was demeaning and traumatic to witness. I used to sit in the car and cry after each visit.

I knew I could improve healthcare for Mum and other aging Kiwis, and so began the hard work to build Radius Care. I started with one care home and today we have 23 locations up and down the country.

My mum spent her last years being looked after at one of our care homes, living with confidence, connection and meaning in the community she knew and loved.

Our residents and their quality of life are at the heart of everything we do. When they can’t speak up for themselves, our staff advocate for them. Caring for our residents is not a job, it is a responsibility, one that we all take incredibly seriously. I love it when I get calls directly from our carers with ideas or requests for new equipment that they believe will make our residents’ lives better.

I know that we’ve got it right when our staff members choose to have their own loved ones in our care. For me, it was a real affirmation of all I’ve worked towards when my brother-in-law chose Radius Care Matua to provide palliative care for my sister in her final days. He knew that our staff would treat her like their own family.

It’s a tale very familiar to us now, with many of our team members having family living within the Radius Care community. We look forward to sharing more of their stories with you soon.