People are being urged to get involved.

This Thursday is Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice. Across the country, people have come together and signed up to host their own coffee mornings in aid of their local hospice or homecare group and it's not too late for you to get involved. In 2020, Bewley's Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice raised over 1 million euros for hospices across the country. This funding has given hospices nationwide the opportunity to hire more specially trained palliative nurses to visit people in their homes, provide high-quality care to in-patient units, and refurbish facilities as well as buying crucial equipment. One of the people taking part this year is Dublin native, Linda O’Neill. Both Linda’s parents were cared for by Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services in Harold’s Cross before they sadly passed away.   Having lost both her parents the hospice was certainly a light in a dark time for Linda. She told us about how she looks back on her parent's last days with fond memories thanks to the care they received:

“We would laugh about little things that would happen in the hospice, like silly little things, we have good memories it’s not just a place where you go to die, that’s not what it’s about, it’s actually a place where you go to live the last of your life.”

Raising funds for hospices across the country is more important than ever due to the pandemic as Linda stresses, “You know it’s really important especially now because I don’t think places are getting funding and they’ve missed out on so much, like the mini-marathon.” The coffee mornings will be running through September and October so there's plenty of time to get involved. Check out all the information you need by visiting the hospice coffee morning website.