Dromara club supports Hospice building project

Dromara club supports Hospice building project

22 October 2014

DROMARA GAC is supporting the construction of a new adult hospice in Belfast.

Representatives from the club were at the Market House in Ballynahinch last week to hand over a cheque for £300 to the Northern Ireland Hospice.

Officials from the Hospice were in the market town to take part in a “building for life” roadshow which provided local people with an update on care services provided in Ballynahinch and the surrounding area and their plans for the future.

Officials revealed the Hospice team in the Ballynahinch area provided specialist hospice care and support for over 400 local people with a terminal illness and their families last year. Ninety per cent of care provided by the Hospice is delivered in the patient’s own home.

The Hospice’s Director of Nursing and Patient Services, Loretta Gribbon, was joined at the Market House by Dympna McCann, the organisation’s nurse specialist from the Ballynahinch team, with both providing an update on the progress of the new adult hospice rebuild project at Somerton House in Belfast.

When it becomes operational late next year, the Hospice’s new facility will become a hub of palliative care in the Province. The new building will provide advanced technologies to support the teams of Northern Ireland Hospice nurses based in local communities to care for more people at home.

Loretta explained the aim of the Hospice is to “add life to days, even if days cannot be added to life.”

She explained this is achieved through the expertise of the organisation’s multi-professional team in managing the challenges and complexities of life limiting conditions and advanced disease and to support individuals and families facing loss.

Loretta added: “We are in the middle phase of our £13m adult hospice rebuild and as a team, are preparing for a future that includes providing care for wider disease groups such as dementia, heart disease and other non-malignant illnesses.”

The money handed to Hospice officials last week in Ballynahinch was raised via a tractor run Dromara GAC organised in August.

• More information about the NI Hospice’s development plans or how to fundraise locally are available at www.nihospice.org or by contacting Deirdre Melly on 07711 377328 or emailing deirdre.melly@nihospice.org.