Knockbreda Parish supports NI Hospice Appeal
Representatives of Knockbreda Parish in South Belfast, Diocese of Down, recently presented a cheque for £1,400 to the Northern Ireland Hospice Syringe Driver appeal
which was launched before Christmas.
The money, raised from donations at the parish’s men’s and ladies’ breakfasts which were held in the church hall over the past 18 months, was presented to Naoimh Quinn, the Northern Ireland Hospice’s Community Fundraiser.
Ms Quinn explained that the syringe driver was one of the mainstays of palliative care and was used to deliver pain and nausea medications to patients when they were in need of around–the–clock pain relief without interruption or were no longer able to swallow tablets.
She added that the Government had recently declared that the device – which had een used since the Hospice opened and was known as a Graseby – no longer complied with European safety regulations. As a result, the Hospice would shortly have to replace its large stock of syringe drivers – which cost £1,380 each – to satisfy legal requirements, an expense that the organization had not anticipated it would have to face.
However, Ms Quinn said she was delighted to report that the Hospice was close to purchasing the 20 syringe drivers needed, thanks to the continued support of many churches throughout Northern Ireland.
Naoimh Quinn (centre) receives a cheque for the NI Hospice Syringe Driver appeal from Knockbreda parishioners who are organisers of the parish’s men’s and ladies’ breakfasts (from left) Tom Maguire, Tom Davies, Eleanor Patterson and Cindy Patterson.
The above article and photo first appeared in The Church of Ireland Gazette, 3 February 2012.