The Irish Hospice Foundation

Summary

• We are a national charity working in every county of Ireland.
• Every one of us will be touched by some, or all, of our work.
• We receive no core state funding so your voluntary fundraising is critical.
• We are working for children and families everywhere.
• Demand for our programmes has grown – and continues to do so.
• We will support you and your staff in their fundraising and promote positive publicity with you.

Introduction

Our vision: No-one will face death or bereavement without the care and support they need.
Our mission: To strive for the best care at end of life, for all.

The Irish Hospice Foundation is a national Irish charity working for better end-of-life care
everywhere. The IHF was set up in 1986 to fund specific hospice services. Fundamental to our work
is the belief that people have the right to die with respect and dignity. Our programmes bring
hospice care and principles to people where they are – in their local communities, their local
hospital, residential home or family home. We also spend resources on up-skilling existing healthcare professionals, teachers and youth workers so they can provide the best quality care.

Some of the programmes provided by The Irish Hospice Foundation:

Nurses for Night Care: We fund this national night nursing service to enable people with
illnesses other than cancer to fulfil their wish to die at home. This service costs €590,000 per
annum. In 2014 we provided over 1,500 nights of free care in homes across every county of
Ireland.
Hospice Care for Children: 1,400 Irish children live with life-limiting conditions and 350 children
die every year. We fund Ireland’s first and only Consultant Paediatrician with special interest in
Palliative Care. She works with a network of 8 Children’s Outreach Nurses who provide free care
to children in their own home.
Residential Care Homes: We are helping people with dementia in residential care homes. We
know that dementia can bring extra challenges for people facing end of life. We promote
excellence in end-of-life care for people with dementia and their families. We train and up-skill
residential care workers, doctors, nurses and ancillary staff in care settings to embed hospice
principles into care plans.
Bereavement: About 270,000 of us must learn to live without a loved one every year. We
estimate that 16,000 children are bereaved each year. We offer bereavement resources and
training to help people cope with pain and loss. We have launched the Irish Childhood
Bereavement Network to help families, teachers, health professionals and youth workers
country wide.
Education and research: We provide education and training about loss and bereavement
through our in-house-developed postgraduate and professional courses. Around 3,000 people
avail of these courses annually. We fund pioneering research on end-of-life and palliative care
issues.
Advocacy: Through advocacy and awareness-raising, we campaign for greater understanding
and discussion of the importance of end-of-life care.
Impact of support:
We value every supporter and want you to know the impact of your generosity.

€25,000 Runs our Children & Loss professional certificate programme for one year
€50,000 Covers two regional co-ordinators on our Journey for Change programme for one year
€100,000 Provides over 300 nights of professional nu