Northern Ireland Hospice riding high on success of North West 200

As a local charity providing a service to local people, we at Northern Ireland Hospice were delighted to be nominated as the official charity for this 2008’s Kennedy International North West 200.

Each year the North West 200 attracts crowds in excess of 150,000 as well as the biggest names in sport and this year was no exception with many opportunities to promote and raise vital money for our charity throughout the event.

During the week, we had our own hospice marquee in the paddock area and had the privilege of meeting a number of the riders and in particular the late Robert Dunlop, who the day before he died, kindly agreed, to take time out of his busy schedule to visit 2 boys diagnosed with life-limiting illnesses living in Castlerock and currently receiving care from the Children’s Hospice. The visit to the Doherty home must have moved Robert greatly, as after his death, his wife Louise decided that money in lieu of flowers for Robert should go to the Children’s Hospice. This is a wonderful tribute to Robert’s memory. His kindness will continue to live on in hospice!

We are well on our way now to reaching our target of £30 000, thanks to the huge generosity of so many people. This money was raised through all the events associated with the North West 200 which ran throughout Race Week Saturday 10^th May – Saturday 17^th May 2008 including a sponsored walk and Fun Run, a Charity Golf Competition, a concert night and a week-long ballot – all of which were very successful and contributed to the overall target.

Hospice staff and volunteers thoroughly enjoyed being part of the week and would like to thank Mervyn Whyte and the Coleraine and District Motor Club for allowing us to be part of this highly prestigious event and to congratulate them on their recent ‘Event of the Year’ award.

The hospice is a leading provider of palliative care services in NI for adults and children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions such as Cancer, Heart Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neuron Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and genetic disorders such as Muscular Dystrophy. We currently care for over 3000 patients a year throughout the province.

However, although all hospice services are offered free of charge, each year it costs £4.7 million to run Adult Hospice services and £1.8 million to run Children’s Hospice services and with only limited government funding, we rely greatly on events like this and the generosity of people to provide the finances needed to keep our services going.

If you interested in learning more about the hospice please visit our website www.nihospicecare.com

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