Cancer Fund for Children (Ireland)
Cancer Fund for Children is an all-Ireland charity providing emotional support to children diagnosed with cancer. Our mission is simple - to support each child and family, so they are better able to cope in the knowledge that they are not alone. We currently do this by providing families with free short at Daisy Lodge in Newcastle, Co. Down. Daisy Lodge is a nurturing and restorative space that is purpose-built to support families at the most vulnerable, difficult, and exhausting time in their lives. Families describe Daisy Lodge as a haven, a safe place where they have a chance to breathe.
We can currently only support one in sixfamilies and a need to urgently build a second Daisy Lodge to ensure every child throughout Ireland gets the vital support they need, and we’d like your help. We’re building our second short break centre - Daisy Lodge, Co. Mayo - on the beautiful shores of Lough Corrib, beside Cong village.
We’ve purchased the land and received planning permission. We now need to build this centre to provide much needed short breaks as soon as possible. Together let’s build a safe space where children and families can connect, feel empowered and are supported through cancer.
Find out more at cancerfundforchildren.ie
overview
Our vision is that no child should face cancer alone.
Our mission is connect, empower, and strengthen children and families so they are better equipped to deal with the emotional impact of cancer.
We plan to open Daisy Lodge, a therapeutic short break centre in Cong Co. Mayo for children diagnosed with cancer and their families. Here families struggling with the impact of a childhood cancer diagnosis will be able to spend time together in a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment, far removed from hospital wards and treatment regimes and create memories together.
where your money goes
Families have said,
“Our short break was a light shining in a very dark place as we had been through the toughest time in our lives.”
We need to raise €12.5 million to build a new Daisy Lodge in Mayo which will allow us to double the number of families we can support from 500 to 1,000. We also need to continue raising funds to provide therapeutic breaks to children and families throughout Ireland at Daisy Lodge in Newcastle Co. Down.
With your support together we can make this happen!
history
Cancer Fund for Children was founded in 1973 by Margaret McAlpine MBE, a teacher who had been recruited to provide continuity to children’s education whilst they were receiving treatment on the hospital wards, following a cancer diagnosis. Over the next 10 years a Charity Board was formed to help deliver a range of practical and financial support to families.
This developed into residential support with the purchase of Shimna Valley House in Co Down in 1996. Shimna Valley House offered families nursing a sick child a place of tranquillity, far removed from the stress of the hospital wards – and was the fore-runner of the unique Daisy Lodge, which was opened in 2014 and stands on the same site today.
Since opening Daisy Lodge, we have been providing free therapeutic short breaks to children diagnosed with cancer who have been referred through the social work team at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin. However, for every child we can support there are another six we cannot which is why we are raising funds for build a second Daisy Lodge in Co. Mayo.
We are also developing services to meet the practical, and emotional needs of children and young people throughout the Ireland on the hospital wards and in the community.
Unit 28B,
+353 (0) 93 52467
