The Cavan Monaghan Palliative Care Fund is marking its 30th anniversary since inspection in 1993.
Initially, the idea was to provide funds for the purchase of equipment for the newly formed Palliative Care Team for County Cavan. Having set goals, the next priority was a vehicle to raise the money and in the early years a very well supported Golf Classic was run annually. In 1999 the Palliative Care Team's remit was expanded to include county Monaghan and thus the Fund became the Cavan Monaghan Palliative Care Fund.
The support the Fund received and continues to receive from the people of Counties Cavan and Monaghan, according to the chairperson of the charity Jimmy O'Donnell who says these people can only be described as heroes Jimmy says these same people are the real heroes of the success of the Fund as without their support the Fund would be a well-intentioned failure.
30 years on, the Fund's resources are used for many different needs. Equipment still plays a significant part in what is provided but in addition the Fund is now in a position to help the palliative care patients and their families in other ways i.e. taxi services, financial assistance in cases of hardship, provision of night nursing, automatic stair lifts, home help and indeed any other requirement identified by the Team. Mr O Donnell says the support that the fund has received over the 30 years has been amazing and the money raised really supports local people at a very difficult time.
