Your 2025 Westfield Newmarket Local Hero is:

Tim Maifeleni

Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand

Supportive. Determined. Passionate

In his role as Regional Manager for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand, Tim lives and breathes the charity’s commitment to ‘improve the quality of life for patients and their families’. 

 Every day, Tim goes the extra mile for children and young people living with blood cancers at the Starship Hospital in Auckland. Whether organising video games for a hospital room, bringing patients their favourite foods or locating a young person skipping treatments, Tim tries to make everyone’s life a little bit better. 

 He says, “Putting a smile on the face of a young child in hospital is what motivates me to come to work each day.” 
 Tim supports children, young people and their families, during traumatic and emotional times when patients are unwell, away from home, and undergoing treatments with terrible side effects. 

“If I can make this really difficult time that little bit easier, I have succeeded. Being in hospital is tough, especially for kids and teens and it is often the little things which can help them get through the day.” 

The $20,000 grant will be used to provide grocery and petrol vouchers to patients’ families, to help remove the financial burden of blood cancer.

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We’d like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Chelsea Windleburn from Elder Care Volunteers

Through her work with Elder Care Volunteers in Greenlane and Epsom over the past four years, Chelsea has brought comfort to elderly care home residents, while mentoring over 100 volunteers. Her empathy, shaped by personal struggles, helps her create lasting bonds with residents from all backgrounds with dementia and complex medical conditions.

Stephen Baillie from Orange Sky New Zealand Ltd

Stephen is a dedicated volunteer for Orange Sky New Zealand, maintaining vans, laundry pods and internal laundries across Auckland that provide showers and washing for people facing hardship. From fixing equipment to handling logistics and compliance, his work ensures vital services continue, and that the charity offers a safe, welcoming space for connection and dignity.

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If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14

Recognising all our 2025 nominees

View all of the Westfield Newmarket nominees and their organisations.