Kirsten Dennison - A caring soul

Kirsten Dennison is one of those caring souls that you just want around in a crisis and one of those good sorts you want leading any fundraising charge. Yes, she’s pretty good with numbers but caring is just inherently who she is.

It’s unsurprising then that after volunteering copious amounts of her time, love and kindness to every community need from kids’ sport, scouts, families in need and the local Cancer Society to the Arrowtown RSA, Whakatipu Poppy Trust, PSS Southland’s Enliven programme and Hato Hone St John that Kirsten’s now officially in the business of caring too.

Always nominated as treasurer in her volunteer roles where she’s ensured the books are balanced; it wasn’t until a friend was selling Karen Soundy’s local care and companionship business ‘Your Saving Grace’ that Kirsten had truly found her ‘happy place’. “She said, ‘This is perfect for you’, so I looked into it and it was. We get to provide support to people, predominantly elderly, but also people post-surgery, sometimes just companionship or personal care, even getting Grandma to and from the wedding for the family.”

It’s a role she’s been filling throughout her life voluntarily anyway. Volunteering for the likes of Enliven - a kind of ‘Big Buddy’ companion and helper for the elderly, is just what she thrives on: “It’s about making them laugh, making them happy. It’s quite satisfying, even though some have dementia, to see you’ve made them happy at that time.”

Born in Invercargill, growing up in Grasmere, Kirsten’s family moved to Arrowtown when she was 14 and at James Hargest High. A sporty kid, her parents had packed the caravan ready to move to the Bay of Islands. “But we stopped off at Arrowtown on the way and never left as Mum and my stepfather both got jobs,” Kirsten smiles. Living in the Arrowtown Camping Ground for six months, Kirsten in the awning, while her parents found a house, that first winter was harsh. Kirsten was eager to leave Wakatipu High in 1988, despite having a ball at Branches Camp. She worked at the Queenstown Lakes District Council, then in Stanley Street, as receptionist and debtor’s clerk, moving on to become a valuable member of council contractor Lakes Contract Services’ team, back at work six weeks after the birth of her second child, seven months after the first. “I’d often go into work at night finishing at 1am and 2am as I’d take Harriet to work in her capsule, rocking her under the desk while I worked at my computer. You couldn’t do that now!”

Kirsten married locally born and bred Bob Dennison who’d spotted her rolling ice creams and flipping burgers at the Arrowtown Burger Bar while she was still at school. “He’d come over from the New Orleans for his dim sims, Kirsten grins.

Finance and treasury had always come naturally, and Kirsten did some online chartered accountancy papers while also working with two small kids, getting up hours before the household to study. That juggling act became too hard, but as the kids grew she chaired the Arrowtown Swimming Club, and was treasurer for Arrowtown Scouts and Whakatipu Rowing Club.

When her best friend Keryn McTaggart, who died just 40, was diagnosed with cancer - Mum to a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins, Kirsten’s caring nature kicked into action. “We set up a roster of friends and all pitched in and I helped out with her husband’s book work.”

Kirsten had found her niche. “That was a life changing moment where I discovered my caring side.” She was soon involved as volunteer team leader with the Cancer Society. “I wanted a caring role to give back.” Bob and the kids were dragged along to every Cancer Society Relay For Life in Cromwell after that.

In 2016 while working at ASB Kirsten became the Hato Hone St John ASB rep on the local committee. “I said I could probably do six months and in 2022 I became the Kawarau Area Committee chair and I still am.” She’s led them through a merger with the Cromwell committee, overseeing everything from the youth programme and health shuttle to the popular, former Therapy Pets programme. This year she was bestowed the honor of becoming a Member of the Order of St John, signed off by King Charles, her name published in the London Gazette.

Throughout the years she’s been at the helm cooking and baking for kids’ community fundraisers. “One year we raised $60,000 for a scout jamboree. That’s a lot of cheese rolls,” she grins.

In 2019 Kirsten innocently turned up at the Arrowtown RSA AGM. They were looking to increase membership and their son had become an aircraft technician in the Air Force. They nabbed her as treasurer too, and 10 years’ of Anzac ceremonies, Poppy Days and Armistice Days later Kirsten is also a Whakatipu Poppy Trust trustee helping distribute funds to military personnel and their families.

Hardly surprising then that in 2024 Kirsten was nominated for a Wakatipu Community Foundation Spirit of the Wakatipu Award for her work with elderly in the community.