In advance of Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice taking place this Thursday, 21 September, we caught up with the chairperson for the North Westmeath Hospice Fundraising Committee as they prepare for their local coffee morning.
Margaret Claffey is a retired nurse who specialised in Oncology Nursing. She is now the chairperson of the North Westmeath Hospice Fundraising Committee, a member of the local Executive Hospice Board and a member of the “National Together for Hospice” Project team. The North Westmeath Hospice Fundraising Committee was set up in 1994. The objective was to raise funds to provide financial assistance to the Specialist Palliative Care team who provide end of life care to all who are terminally ill, be it in the comfort of their own home or in a dedicated hospice bed. When set up initially it only provided care to those terminally ill with a cancer diagnosis but today it includes all terminal illness at no cost to the user. This has huge financial implications for the palliative care team and while they do receive state funding, they still rely on significant charitable funds to resource the ever-expanding service. In turn the Fundraising committee depend on the outstanding generosity of the people of Mullingar and its surrounds who make donations and bequests, attend and support their fundraising events, and organise their own events and are so loyal to this cause.
