Meath Homecare Hospice Movement donates to €1m to St Francis Hospice

The Meath Hospice Homecare Movement has donated €1m to St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown, where 15 per cent of people admitted for in-patient care are from county Meath.

In recognition of this support, St Francis Hospice has named a wing of the Blanchardstown inpatient unit 'The Boyne Valley Rooms'. The donation enables St Francis Hospice to repay part of the outstanding bank loan associated with the building costs of its Blanchardstown Hospice.

The savings in interest payments will fund a halftime social work post over four years to provide additional bereavement support for children, adults, and families. This will include the development of a therapeutic group for children to help them understand loss and develop coping strategies after a significant person in their life dies.

The Boyne Valley Rooms wing consists of three single-bed inpatient rooms, a children’s play room, a family overnight room, two family seating areas, and the clinical team room. Its décor incorporates paintings by Meath artists – 'Essence of Meath' by Noreen Walshe, 'Hydrangea in Copper Pot' by Marguerite Dolan and 'Along the River Boyne' by David McCormack. In addition, the Meath Hospice Homecare Movement has donated a garden pod for the hospice day care garden at St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown.

The pod creates an outdoor space that is sheltered from the weather for patients, family members, and staff to enjoy all year round.

The structure can accommodate up to 16 people so in years to come will provide a comfortable, sociable space for people to gather and enjoy the hospice’s garden. An additional donation from the Meath Hospice Homecare Movement of €43,000, raised by the Meath Steam Run Group, will fund two-thirds of the complementary therapy service in St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown for 12 months from September 2020 to August 2021.

Complementary therapists provide approximately 1,200 treatments each year in St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown.

Complementary therapies are used alongside conventional health care to help ease patients’ symptoms, discomfort and anxiety, and to help promote relaxation.

Fintan Fagan, CEO of St Francis Hospice Dublin commented: "We welcome this collaborative approach to enable the best quality specialist palliative care services for the people within our catchment area. The support of the Meath Hospice Homecare Movement and the Meath Steam Run Group has enabled St Francis Hospice to expand the services offered to our patients and their families. St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown will continue to provide inpatient palliative care services and bereavement support for the residents of county Meath.”