This year's Galway Memorial Walk in aid of the Galway Hospice will take place on Sunday September 13 when Galwegians are being asked to walk their own special route.
It is another special opportunity for family and friends to remember loved ones during these extraordinary times, says Galway Hospice chief executive, Mary Nash.
“This year, we can’t all come together to walk, so we’re asking you to walk somewhere special to you with family and friends.”
Galway Hospice is currently caring for 250 at-home patients in both city and county each month during the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to patients at its Inpatient Unit in Renmore. Additional measures to protect all hospice patients, staff and volunteers, have been put in place.
However, she says Covid-19 restrictions have impacted on fundraising for hospice services.
“We are living in unprecedented times and Galway Hospice, like all other healthcare organisations, has put plans and measures in place to support the patients and families who need us during the Covid pandemic,” she says.
"The Community Palliative Care Team continues to make ‘Hospice at Home’ visits to patients at home and provide support to families. The community team has made over 12,500 calls so far this year, a 25 per cent increase on last year."
Other changes include Galway Hospice’s monthly Remembrance Services which now take place online with more than 500 people having joined in each Remembrance Service since March.
“Covid-19 has changed the traditional ways we mark our grief, and public health guidelines around social distancing meant moving our Remembrance Service from the hospice to a virtual online service,” Mary Nash says. “The service gives people an opportunity to come together and remember loved ones separately, but together.”
To register for this year's virtual Galway Memorial Walk on Sunday September 13, visit www.galwayhospice.ie/walk or 091-770868 to receive a t-shirt personalised with the name of your loved one. Everyone who registers for the Galway Memorial Walk will receive a special sapling sponsored by McD’s Home & Garden.
