Blind Dunedin woman turns trash into treasure

A Dunedin blind woman is turning trash into treasure while supporting animals in need.

Psychotherapist Megan Turnbull began losing her vision because of tumours on her retinas and was blind by the time she was three.

What started as a hobby about a decade ago has become a weekly donation of candles to her local SPCA op shop.

Megan described candle-making as “healthy addiction”.

She has a room devoted to creating candles and soaps, with a sign ‘Megan’s Smelly Business’ hanging on the door.

Inside, there was a large collection of fragrance bottles, different vessels, containers of wicks, bags of wax flakes and a few cups ready for pouring.

She loves scented candles and was inspired by a friend to start making them.

But she soon discovered she was making more than what she could use or give to friends so she offered to donate them to the SPCA Dunedin Op Shop in North East Valley.

Now, she made candles in the unloved tea cups given to her by the op shop.

“Using the tea cups is quite satisfying because they’re really straightforward,” she said.

“I use them so much now that I have a sense of how much wax each one takes. It’s easy to get the wick in there.”

While some hobbies waxed and waned, she still enjoyed making them and trying out new fragrances – although her French pear remained a fan favourite.

She has a special jug to melt the wax, which she then added a scent to, mixed and poured into the cups.

It was a nice balance to her work as a psychotherapist.

“For me, it’s more having a hobby where you have a finished product. The work I do is long term work with people and you don’t always have a day where you kind of think ‘oh yeah, I’ve achieved a lot today’,” she said.

“Making candles is really practical. You have a session and then you’ve got six or 10 candles.”

Down the road was the SPCA Dunedin Op Shop – Megan has been donating there for about a decade, but she also donates to other charity shops too.

Op shop manager April Topi-Elliott said Megan breathed new life into cups destined to gather dust on the shelves – often the kind you would expect to find at high tea.

“A lot of people now drink out of mugs so tea cups and pretty, quaint, lovely little tea cups sort of get sat on the shelf for a while. But then those are the cups that I give to Megan and then we sell them pretty much straight away with a beautiful candle inside them,” she said.

She showed where Megan’s candles were displayed at the front counter and on shelves near the door – but first she gave her dogs Lemmie and Zee a snack to keep them occupied.

“They’re all in lovely cups. We’ve got winter spice, driftwood, orchid, red apple, French pear, and they’re just absolutely wonderful burning. They burn all the way down and for $5, I don’t think you can get a better bargain.”

Once their overheads are covered, she said the rest of the money went towards supporting animals.

“It’s just really nice when the community comes behind you and you get a regular donation of amazing items or quality of items,” she said.

“So I’m very very grateful for everything that Megan’s done donating to the shop.”

As for Megan, she hoped to be helping animals – and people – one wick at a time.