BEAUTIFUL GESTURE: Emma Calvert, left, Ingrid Pritchard and Shelley Guildford of Wellington's Scent Floral Boutique.
If diamonds are a girl's best friend, then flowers must come a pretty close second - and one central Wellington florist is going the extra mile for those who have been dealt a very hard hand.
As well as leaving posies somewhere in Wellington once a week, Ingrid Pritchard and her team at Scent Floral Boutique give away weekly bouquets to breast cancer sufferers and their support people.
Pritchard became familiar with the Sweet Louise charitable trust at a memorial service for a friend who passed away after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Sweet Louise aims to improve the quality of life for women with breast cancer, relying on donations and support from businesses to provide vouchers for services such as spa treatments, lawn mowing, food and childcare.
"I met the speaker, Elva Phillips, at the memorial and wanted to do something for them, and donate a random act of kindness posy," Pritchard says.
"We have it ready every Monday for someone at Sweet Louise to pick up and give it to someone deserving, whether it's a member, staff, sometimes it might go to a member's mum, or one of the drivers.
"We have been doing it for about two years now."
Phillips says she has been blown away by Ingrid's generosity and humble attitude.
"I was so pleased when she approached me with the idea, because women love flowers and some of our clients can't afford them or don't have anyone to buy them flowers.
"I had one member with absolutely no family, we couldn't find any relatives of hers in New Zealand, and I asked Ingrid if she'd be willing to do a wreath for this member's funeral and she picked flowers especially from her garden for it.
"Nothing is a trouble for them, they are so lovely."
Sinda Hall, also from Sweet Louise, says Scent is the only company to donate flowers to the charity on a weekly basis.
"It's an amazing thing for people to be given a bouquet of flowers, they're stunning, and I think for women living with a secondary breast cancer diagnosis, things like flowers are a bit lower down on their priority list.
"But to have them delivered to you is something really special."
Helping others is in the blood for Pritchard, whose father is a volunteer driver for the Cancer Society - he often swings by the shop on the way to the hospital, so Pritchard can take flowers out to the patient in the car.
"Some of them cry because they are so touched," says Pritchard.
"It's for people who don't have family to drive them, and Dad's had cancer himself, so that's why he wanted to do that. It's just a family thing we organise."
Last year, Scent started leaving "random acts of kindness" flowers around Wellington.
"Where we leave them is very weather dependant, sometimes on the waterfront, in a bus shelter, the park, and if it's windy, then maybe Lambton Square, train station or a food court.
"We get emails saying things like 'my friend was really down but we found the flowers and took them to her', so it's really cool they're going to people who deserve them."
- The Dominion Post
