A Dubliner who has raised over €43,000 since she began hosting coffee mornings for her local Hospice, is urging the next generation to keep the fundraiser going.
Although May Gray has retired from hosting a Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning for Hospice, she has fond memories of the thirty years she spent hosting and hopes others will pick up where she left off.
Living close to St Francis Hospice in Raheny inspired her to get involved with the worthy cause and she recalls raising £22 in her first year.
Now she is encouraging everyone to register to host their own Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning for Hospice event.
This longstanding and much-loved national event, coordinated by Together for Hospice, takes place on September 26.
“During some of the more recent years, we raised a few thousand euro and any money I got, the Hospice got,” said May.
“I heard so much praise for the work of the Hospice from neighbours and friends – about the good they were doing and how kind they were – and thought it was a way to help out.”
May would begin baking scones at 6am and appreciated the sense of community the event fostered.
“It was always a lovely gathering but I wouldn’t be able to do it again,” said the Mayo native.
“It was an opportunity to bring people together and the neighbours were a great help, plus my husband, Stephen, wasn’t too bad either.
“One year we had a new door installed – the type that would send you flying if you caught your toe in it – so, he was in charge of escorting people out.
“Some people only saw each other once a year and didn’t want to leave, which is why we made it an all-day affair.”
Although she no longer hosts, local people still remember her coffee mornings and give May donations, which she is happy to pass on to the Hospice.
Together for Hospice, The National Hospice Movement, represents 24 Hospice and specialist palliative homecare providers supporting patients and their families across Ireland.
Funds raised locally stay local and go directly to each local Hospice service to innovate, build new facilities, develop new services and deliver quality improvements and extra benefits for their patients and their family members.
Register to host a coffee morning on Thursday, September 26 – or on a date that suits you – at hospicecoffeemorning.ie or call 0818 995 996.
If you cannot host or attend a coffee morning, you can make a donation at hospicecoffeemorning.ie/donate