A charity week in aid of hospice home care for children is taking place at Castlecomer and St Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Unions this week.
They are taking part in an event whereby 70 Credit Unions nationwide are supporting the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF ) in the development of a dedicated hospice home care service for children by hosting a Charity Week starting on August 22.
The proceeds collected by Castlecomer and St. Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Unions will help fund work to support families with children who have life-limiting conditions. The hospice home care service for children will allow seriously ill children to be cared for and to die at home rather than in a busy hospital.
On a national level, an estimated 1,400 children are living with life-limiting conditions in Ireland. There are about 350 child deaths every year – the majority in the first year of life.
The project is an initiative of le chéile General Insurances and AXA Insurance Ltd.
During the Charity Week, staff at Castlecomer and St Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Unions will be having a bit of fun by painting a sunflower on their faces. The sunflower is the emblem of the IHF.
Manager of Castlecomer Credit Union Noel Murphy along with the Manager of St Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Union Claire Lawton, are overseeing the funds collected at the counter during the week-long event.
The initiative is also being supported by the local AXA branch in Kilkenny.
Michael O’Reilly, chairman of the Irish Hospice Foundation, stated, “we appreciate this support for one of our most important programmes. We hope that members of Castlecomer and St Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Unions and the entire community get behind this worthwhile initiative. Supporting some of the most vulnerable members of their community is very much in tune with the ethos of the Credit Union movement.”
The IHF has committed €2.5 million to the implementation of Policy Palliative Care for children with life-limiting conditions in Ireland – A National Policy. The IHF funds the role of Dr Mary Devins who in May took up the position of Ireland’s first Consultant in Children’s Palliative Care. The IHF has also agreed to fund five out of eight outreach nurses, who will support families caring for their children at home. Since 2007 the IHF has funded courses in children’s palliative care for nurses and healthcare professionals –over 1,500 have been trained.
