Get to know us

About Us

TimeOut is a New Zealand not-for-profit charity, providing holiday home experiences to terminally-ill patients and their families.

Through connections with generous home-owners, we have a national, growing network of over 150 holiday homes around the country and provide many invaluable experiences each year

With a dedicated team of volunteers and a network of charities and care providers, we’re committed to providing ongoing support and providing a more positive outlook to all affected by terminal illnesses in New Zealand.

Why TimeOut

Every year, more than 24,000 people and their families experience terminal illness in NZ.

Beyond the immense grief and emotional toll these illnesses take on all they affect, they also impact our most precious resource; time.

By gifting experiences away from home, we provide families with much-needed moments of relief, shared experiences and the opportunity to take a break from it all, spending time together.

With over 50,000 holiday homes in New Zealand, we’re on a mission to get kiwi donors on-board, so we can all lend a hand to those who need it.

Our Story

Our story began in 2013, when TimeOut founder Ronda Amende was diagnosed with a rare cancer and given 12 months to live.

Ronda was determined to fight her illness and began a three-year battle with chemotherapy, beating her cancer into remission.

With so much heartbreak and uncertainty during this trying time, a kind gesture from a work colleague provided much-needed relief - some time away at a family holiday home on the beautiful Coromandel.

Ronda and her family were given the opportunity to escape, put time on hold and share precious moments together, creating memories that would last a lifetime.

Inspired by the gratitude she felt, Ronda wanted other families in need to have this experience and the idea for TimeOut was born.

In 2016, the charity was formed; a not-for-profit organisation, connecting generous holiday homeowners with people with terminal illnesses, providing gifted experiences like the one Ronda was given.

Today, we’re grateful and proud to have over 150 holiday homes on offer from generous kiwis, giving people in need and their families the chance to create special memories together.

Our Team

Our team is comprised of friends, family and talented professionals, devoting their time and energy to seeing the TimeOut charity and all those who require it’s support thrive.

Chair of Board & Charity Founder
Ronda Amende
Ronda Amende
Chair of Board & Charity Founder
In 2013 I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer and given a year to live. My children at the time were aged 18, 17 and 13. In fact, my daughter had her 17th Birthday at my hospital bed the morning before i had surgery. It was late October, so they were all in the middle of exams. It is fair to say we were all in shock and dealing with things as best we could.

A friend offered us her holiday home to go and stay in once the kids had finished their exams. It was the best thing for us. Christmas came quickly and we again were offered a friends holiday home as a place to rest on our way to Wellington to spend time with extended family. We could not have done the trip without this generosity.

Both of these experiences made a big and real difference to us at a time when things were extremely difficult. I realised that our situation was not unique, there are a lot of families affected by terminal illness. Building memories in a way that doesn’t add extra financial burden is one of the key things every family affected by terminal illness needs to do. My hope is that TimeOut will help connect terminally families with generous donators so that they too will have the opportunity to build memories and find strength from being supported by the community.
Board Member & Home Donor
Hamish Braddick
Hamish Braddick
Board Member & Home Donor
I have worked with Ronda for many years, when she learned that she had cancer, when she learned she only had a few years to live, when she went through Chemo and came through the other side. When she came up with the idea for TimeOut and as she developed the idea. She asked if I would be interested. Of course, I said yes.

My mother was diagnosed with Motor Neuron disease when I was 10. She was given 2 years to live while her muscles slowly degraded, she went through a divorce, setup the Motor Neuron Society for NZ, remarried and lived for 20 years to see her grandchildren.

I attended a number of MND meetings and got to know a number of the patients and their families. I know that our family and many of the MND families would have really appreciated TimeOut and access to a holiday home at no cost.

I have experience in graphic design, online marketing, project management, setting up and running a business. I am a founder and Director of Zeald. I love working with awesome people – Helping clients achieve results – Scientific optimisation, Measuring, interpreting data and continual improvement.

When I am not at work I am building roads on our Puhoi farm and hanging with my kids. I am originally from Mangawhai. I visit Mangawhai every so often to see family. But Auckland or Orewa is where the work is.
Board Member & Home Donor
Doug Hanna
Doug Hanna
Board Member & Home Donor
In 2002, a family friend from Christchurch was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. While her husband was planning a final road trip around New Zealand together, he approached us to ask if they could stay in our beach house at Oakura Bay in Northland. They had a lovely time together, and after her passing he let us know just how much that time together had meant to them.

This experience got me thinking, and in 2004 I approached the Northland Cancer Society in Whangarei to see if we could do this for other families in similar positions. Together, we created a programme for donating a weeklong holiday in our beach house for families with serious health challenges, and over the following years we have had close to 50 families spend time there as part of this programme.

Then, when I watched the TimeOut piece of TV1’s Seven Sharp programme, I was really impressed with TimeOut, and got in touch with Ronda to offer to help alongside these other wonderful, likeminded people. I love digital technology, and have been in the software and internet business since the early 1980’s after being brought-up in the countryside in Northland. My wife Jan and I have been fortunate enough to have a family holiday home in Oakura Bay for many years, where we and our three boys as well as tons of friends, have holidayed for many summers.

I just love sharing these kinds of family escapes with others.
Secretary of Board
Roimata Ness
Roimata Ness
Secretary of Board
I first heard about the idea for TimeOut when I was on holiday, staying in a Bachcare house in Rotorua with my family. Family has always been an incredibly important part of my life and I understood the importance and need for a charity like TimeOut immediately. We had paid over two thousand dollars to rent our house for the week and I could imagine how financially, a family with a terminal illness would find it difficult to come up with the funds for a break – and yet, their need for a time away to enjoy each other would be immense! TimeOut was an idea that needed to happen!

I believe strongly in God and I believe strongly that He gives us ideas and opportunities to serve others in many different ways. I knew immediately that this was a way I could serve, by helping Ronda make her charitable idea a reality in any way that I could.

I am a mum of a toddler and there pretty much isn’t anything that I don’t love about it! I became a mum later in life and I feel that even though I thought I’d had a pretty exciting life with my career and travelling abroad beforehand, my life only really became totally awesome and off the charts fantastic when my son was born. Before my life became a techni-color, crayon welding, story-time reading, wonderland, I spent many years working in media and communications.

What I enjoy most about being a part of TimeOut is envisioning families, mums and dads, sons and daughters, being able to have a break away together. For myself personally, my favourite people in my world are my family. There is no one else I would rather spend time with. Working out a way for other families in need to be able to spend time together as well – gosh, what a great feeling!
Board Member
Josh Shaw
Josh Shaw
Board Member
I am a partner in the Wynn Williams national Dispute Resolution Team and based in Christchurch.

My family and I are from the North Shore, Auckland and have been long time friends of Ronda and her family. We have worked together over the years in different volunteer roles.

We moved to Christchurch a couple of years ago and love it.

I have prosecuted over 140 criminal trials with particular expertise in prosecuting cases involving serious sexual offending and child abuse.

I liaise with our team here at Wynn Williams to provide legal advice and services to help TimeOut. As a child my mother went through a terminal illness and I know a TimeOut experience would have made a difference for our family.

When I am not working I love to spend time with my family on our lifestyle block and exploring the wonders of the South Island and local sites.
Board Member
Jane Greville
Jane Greville
Board Member
In 2013 I left my general practice and my lovely patients behind to start a new career as a Palliative Care Specialist. Initially three years retraining and then working at Harbour Hospice in a specialist role. Palliative Care is a job which comes with a lot of privilege, the ability to walk with patients and their whanau through a terminal illness. As part of my job, I see families struggling to carve out time for themselves - between hospital appointments and other commitments and I am aware of how precious the making of memories and legacies are at the end of life - both for the patient and their loved ones. When Doug approached me about a place on the TimeOut board it was very easy to say yes, as this ability to offer families and friends places to make memories is a precious gift. I can reflect on the best times in my life which involve uninterrupted time with my family - my husband and two sons - and to support a charity which can offer this to other families is awesome.
Charity Ambassador
Honey Hireme-Smiler
Honey Hireme-Smiler
Charity Ambassador
Honey’s connection with TimeOut’s mission is personal, shaped by her own journey alongside her wife Rochelle, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in December 2021. Having personally experienced a TimeOut retreat with her family, Honey recognises the profound healing that a brief escape can bring. “Our stay meant the world to us. Thanks to TimeOut, we filled our cups away from the hustle and bustle and spent time enjoying the things we love to do like watching sunsets, exploring the outdoors and focusing on self-care. We were able to have open conversations, plan, and reset priorities in the continued fight against this cancer diagnosis.” Honey advocates for more generous donations of stays, recognizing the priceless impact these experiences can have. “These TimeOut moments are such a gift as they create a haven for families to take a break, spend quality time, recoup, refocus, and create beautiful memories during such a difficult time in life.”
Charity Manager
Kylie Hale
Kylie Hale
Charity Manager
I live on the beautiful Hibiscus Coast with my husband and 2 young children. I started volunteering for TimeOut in 2018 after watching a clip about Ronda & TimeOut Charity on Seven Sharp. The idea of donating a stay in a holiday home to a person dealing with a terminal diagnosis so that they could make special memories with family and friends just made so much sense and instantly resonated with me. I was then fortunate enough to start working for the charity part time from August 2019. The TimeOut stays have such a significant and positive impact for the recipient families, and are also such a rewarding experience for the holiday home owners and I feel so grateful and privileged to be part of the TimeOut team facilitating this.
Stay Manager
Chloe Cook
Chloe Cook
Stay Manager
Kia ora! My name is Chloe (that’s me on the left) and I live on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula with my wife and our dog. I’ve always thrived on working to help others, and I’m currently studying to achieve a Bachelor in Counselling to do just that. When Kylie told me about TimeOut and the work they do, I knew I needed to be involved somehow. I love working with others to help someone and their whanau create memories and connect with each other, and I’m excited to get on board! In my spare time, I enjoy dyeing my hair different colours, reading, and playing dungeons and dragons.
Volunteer - IT Support
Aaron Smithson
Aaron Smithson
Volunteer - IT Support
I worked with Ronda while I had my own cancer scare. I was lucky mine was caught early.

I had a peripheral nerve sheath tumour. Initially they thought it was benign tumour in a risky location so they tried several procedures first. When they failed to stop the pain they selected to remove it. After testing they found signs of cancer cells. So had several more scans. They got it all so had radiation treatment as a precaution. Ronda was a great support person to have while working. So once I had completed my treatment and started to get my energy levels back Ronda asked me I felt I would like to help out. Of course I said yes.

For TimeOut I help maintain the website, assist of any of the team need any IT help with computers/internet etc.

In my spare time I spend it with my family or just hanging with friends. Going on road trips.
Volunteer - Technical Support
Lisa Maya
Lisa Maya
Volunteer - Technical Support
My name is Lisa and I am one of the volunteers at TimeOut. To say what I do as a volunteer is a bit tough - really it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I’ve worked on the website and our social media pages, I’ve interviewed for other volunteers, I’ve helped with some processes and I’ve spoken to a few candidates to provide an update or get some details! Pretty much, I’m just happy to jump in where and when needed to get something done.

Prior to TimeOut being developed into a charity, I had experienced first hand what a break away from home and your normal day to day life can do for you and your family when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness. So when Ronda first let me know about the charity, I felt compelled to somehow be apart of it.

As for a little bit about me - there’s not too much to say. I enjoy spending most of my time with my husband and 2 cats. If we aren’t at the gym or gaming, then we are probably visiting or helping our family and friends.