Irish Pride Hospice Hero Award

Waterford woman wins national Irish Pride Hospice Hero Award in advance of Sunflower Days

Please support your local Hospice Service on Sunflower Days – June 8th and 9th

A Waterford woman was recently awarded an Irish Pride Hospice Hero Award at a ceremony in the Mansion House in Dublin to mark the launch of the national Sunflower Days collection for local hospice services which will take place locally on Friday, June 8th and Saturday, June 9th.All are urged to volunteer and to continue to give generously to support hospice care in their area.

Speaking at the Award Ceremony, Marie Cummins described June Dunphy as a fantastic worker who had given great service to the development of hospice care. June served as chairperson of Tramore Hospice Support Group for over 13 years and raised over €120,000 for services in her area.  Unfortunately June was unavailable to attend the ceremony so Marie accepted the Award in her honour..

Hospice services have experienced cuts in their budgets and are more reliant than ever on public goodwill during national fundraising events such as Sunflower Days, which is kindly supported by Irish Pride Bakery, in order to keep services going. All hospice services are reliant on the generosity of their local communities to help maintain or expand their services. 

People will be able to support their local hospice service by buying a sunflower pin or sunflower seeds for €2 each from collectors on the streets of cities, towns and villages around the country. 

Sunflower Days is a major source of income for hospices and voluntary hospice groups countrywide.  The IHF coordinates the event on behalf of the hospice movement but all of the funds raised locally stay locally.

There is an urgent need for volunteers to sell sunflower pins and anyone who has a few hours to spare on June the 8th or 9th is asked to please check on http://www.sunflowerdays.ie   for further details.

Launching Sunflower Days, Mary Kennedy remarked: "By making a contribution during Sunflower Days, people will play a vital role in efforts to bring comfort and dignity to people at the end of their life.  Hospice care involves highly skilled professionals working together to meet the individual needs of each patient and their family.  Communities throughout Ireland have played a key role in developing hospice services and this support is much needed in these difficult economic times."

Pictured are: Mary Kennedy; Marie Cummins on behalf of June Dunphy Irish pride Sunflower Hero; Therese Lynch CEO Irish Pride.