Daisy Lodge helping families during Covid

Daisy Lodge helping families during Covid

3 March 2021

FOR families living with cancer or mourning the loss of a loved one to the disease, the fact that Daisy Lodge is running at half its normal capacity still makes it a sanctuary – especially through the pandemic.

Run by the Cancer Fund for Children, the centre on Newcastle’s Bryansford Road provides short therapeutic breaks for families.

The chance of getting a whiff of sea air, a walk along the beach and a view of the stunning Mournes is something that all families appreciate. When it’s combined with the care and attention that Daisy Lodge gives to them, it means a rare spell of respite in what’s a truly challenging period in their lives.

Normally welcoming just over 500 families through its doors each year, Daisy Lodge resumed breaks last July after having to suspend breaks from mid-March last year due to the spread of Covid-19.

Resident Services Manager Raphael O’Connor says that while the centre has had a reduced capacity, his staff of 20 have ensured that families’ experience are more intensely therapeutic for each short break.

He knows that the 200 families who have been stayed at Daisy Lodge since last summer have really needed and appreciated the break.

“We are dealing with extremely vulnerable client group, children and parents with cancer. Because of their cancer treatment have extremely low immunity, they would be viewed as high risk during normal times,” said Raphael, who is a nurse by profession.

“With the Covid-19 situation, families have felt extremely vulnerable and having a short break here has been a lifesaver for a lot of families.”

He said that the decision to close last March was “gutting” to him and his staff, but realised that it was based on current advice and policy.

Staff were furloughed for four months, although online and digital support was offered to families and the charity’s community services team still worked with families in hospitals and at home.

However, knowing how valued the breaks were to families, Raphael and his team did a major online consultation with the Department of Health, its board and families to assess the attitude to a re-opening. The response was that 94% of families were willing to take a short break at Daisy Lodge.

“What became clear was because of the high need our families were in at that time, getting the break was essential, particularly for families with someone in a palliative condition. While we are not a hospice, families needed somewhere to come to spend those last few weeks to be together,” said Raphael.

However, before they opened their doors to two families per week in July, Raphael’s team had major work to do.

He explained: “We had to redraft our entire Covid procedure for hygiene, PPE, the donning and doffing of these, temperature checks with a digital thermometer, etc.

“Our protocols had to be of a standard comparable to a hospital ward. Overnight we had to become very clinical, which is something we had moved away from as Daisy Lodge was to be an experience away from the hospital ward.”

One family member’s feedback comment illustrates what the break meant to them.

”The Covid-19 pandemic has made navigating life with a cancer diagnosis extremely difficult. Our quality of life is already compromised and the fear of contracting the virus has forced us all into isolation,” they said.

“During our stay in Daisy Lodge we felt confident that we could relax and be together knowing that everything was being done to ensure our comfort and safety. It felt like a refuge, a safe-haven.”

Raphael remarked: “We know we are making a huge different to the lives of these families and that despite Covid, they have been able to come here and enjoy themselves and forget about it.

“We exist for families with cancer and kids with cancer, we wouldn’t be doing this work if we didn’t feel passionate about it.

“We know the magic that this place gives families. They leave us walking on air, feeling rejuvenated, feeling that they can cope with what’s ahead. We know we help them on their journey and the feeling that we couldn’t do that during the first lockdown, yes, we were all disappointed.”

The charity was funded by over £700,000 from the Executive in July in recognition of the role it provides and the impact that the lockdown had on its finances. It requires £2.3m per year to provide its services to families across Northern Ireland.

Raphael added: “We plan to continue to aim for this target despite the challenges of Covid-19 and the impact this has had on fundraising. We have confidence in our dedicated fundraising team but rely now more than ever on the support of the wider community across Northern Ireland.”

He says he is proud of his team who have risen to every challenge during the last year.

“I have a very resilient and diligent group of staff who they go above and beyond for families. It’s the best team I have ever worked with and they deliver time and time again for families, despite all the new changes and new procedures. They retrained, they adapted quickly and our cleaning regime is now second to none.”

The remaining issue for Raphael is how to deal with the many families who still require a short break.

“We are on the back foot going forward as we know we have a backlog of families needing breaks. When restrictions ease and we are back delivering  five or six families a week, we are going to have a greater demand than ever.”

To find out how to donate to the charity, visit www.cancerfundforchildren.com/donate.