Tuam Cancer Care are asking people in Galway to consider holding a fundraising tea party over the month of May to help support this essential charity service.
Tuam Cancer Care provides emotional, psychological, and practical support to people who have been given a diagnosis of cancer and their families to help them cope with a painful situation.
The group was found in the 80s by a group of women in Tuam who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and came together to support one another.
They realised that living with cancer can be a serious crisis of the mind and spirit as well as a sickness of the body, and have been working with volunteers and therapists ever since to support people with cancer, their families, and close friends.
In 2006, after intense lobbying by the group, the HSE opened a two bed palliative care/respite service at Arus Mhuire Community Hospital, Tuam to replace the service lost when Grove Hospital closed.
Thanks to the generous support of the people of Tuam and the surrounding area, the group moved to a new purpose built centre to increase the number of people it could support.
It costs the group €150 to provide a programme of Complementary Therapies, €480 to provide a programme of counselling and €2600 to run the Physical Activity Programmes per term.
As a charity, Tuam Cancer Care 92% of the costs of proving these supports from public donations each year.
The Tea Party fundraising campaign is just one of the efforts to get essential public support to keep the doors open on this important service.
“We have created the Tea Party fundraising campaign to highlight the importance a listening ear and a cup of tea means to someone at a time of uncertainty in their life,” the group said in a statement.
People can host their tea party in any place be it a shop, pub, cafe, community centre, or their own home.
Register today to receive your Tea Party Pack with advice on advertising your tea party, recipes and much more.
photo: Tuam Cancer Care
