Over €1m raised by Hooves4Hospice for hospice project

A fundraising initiative established by Tullamore Lions Club has raised €1.06 million to date towards the cost of the long-awaited Midlands Regional Hospice.

The Lions Club said the figure raised since the project got underway in January 2020 "exceeds their ambitions" and reflects the generosity of farmers, the agricultural community generally, and many schools, community groups and individuals.

While the bulk of the funds have come from the four counties of Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford that the new Midlands Hospice will serve, the Lions Club has pointed out that they have also received “significant support" from across all four provinces.

“The success of our fundraising project reflects a remarkable level of understanding of the disadvantage experienced by patients who need in-patient palliative care in the Midlands, in not having such a facility available in the region,” said Hooves4Hospice chairperson, Pat Lalor.

The group said the prospect of that disadvantage disappearing soon “is in sight” with the decision to select the Arden Lane site in Tullamore as the preferred location for the Regional Hospice.

The statement said the selected site is south facing, and is “capable of meeting all the guidelines of the Department of Health in relation to the location and facilities that constitute a modern hospice.”

Hooves4Hospice added that, while Tullamore Lions Club has offered the Arden Lane site "free of charge and unconditionally to the HSE" the construction and commissioning of the Midland Regional Hospice “is the responsibility of the HSE.”

“The HSE will be issuing invitations to interested parties to attend information events at which the design team, Coady Architects, will outline their design approach and answer questions. We exhort everyone who can to attend one of these events,” the group said.