Plans for therapeutic cancer centre in Cong

CANCER Fund for Children officially launched last Thursday, pledging specialist support to Irish families facing a devastating diagnosis of childhood cancer.

Over time, the charity will roll out a range of residential and community based services, which will also include a therapeutic short break facility located in Mayo.

Plans are well advanced to purchase a site in an area of outstanding natural beauty - in line with the charity’s therapeutic remit - in Cong. The new purpose-built complex, which will cost approximately €13.5 million to build and run over three years, will be modelled upon and named after the charity’s existing therapeutic short break centre, Daisy Lodge, in Newcastle, Co. Down.

Built on evidence of a gap in support for families nursing a child with cancer in Ireland, Cancer Fund for Children will begin to introduce its model of psycho-social support. The model of support provided by its specialist services team has been showcased at an International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) conference in Dublin 2016. Widely recognised for its effectiveness, the plan now is to roll out these services throughout Ireland.

It means children, young people and their families will receive practical and emotional help at home and in the community. This includes the offer of a free therapeutic short break.

The plan, which will create new jobs and bring inward investment into a rural area, is being backed by The Rory Foundation. The charitable foundation of four-time golf major winner, Rory McIlroy, has pledged €1.2m as part of a major donor strategy that will help turn this long-term vision into a reality.

Since it opened its doors in 2014, Daisy Lodge has accommodated over 1,000 families from all over Ireland living with a diagnosis of childhood cancer, providing them with a chance to receive specialist therapeutic support from trained practitioners and relax and spend quality time together in a unique, purpose-built, peaceful environment, far removed from gruelling cancer treatment and hospital visits.

Such has been the success of the award-winning facility that demand for short breaks is now outstripping supply and a waiting list is in operation, with over 50 families waiting to use the service at any given time. The creation of a new therapeutic short break centre in Mayo will reduce that pressure and establishes a necessary base from which Cancer Fund for Children can deliver its community services.

Speaking on behalf of Cancer Fund for Children, the charity’s chairman, Eddie Byrne, said: “Cancer Fund for Children’s long-term goal is to ensure that no family in Ireland should face a cancer diagnosis alone. Our research tells us that aside from essential medical care, families in Ireland could positively benefit from the holistic support that Cancer Fund for Children currently offer to families affected by cancer in Northern Ireland.

“We have listened carefully to our families and the social workers and health professionals who support them, and are responding to their needs and requirements. The new therapeutic short break centre in Mayo will be an exciting first step in a strategic longer term plan that aims to ensure that families from across Ireland have access to the support they need to cope with the impact cancer has on their lives.”

Rory McIlroy added: “Having seen Daisy Lodge in Newcastle being developed from its foundations to what it is today is amazing. I’ve been back a couple of times since it opened and the facilities are exceptional. I have no doubt it will be the same in Mayo. I am honoured to be able to support a second project.”