From where it all stemmed

IN 1987, the bleakness of cancer was teamed with one of the brightest flowers of spring, the daffodil, because of a trip Charles Cully, a founder member of the Irish Cancer Society, took to Toronto.

There, Cully met the daughter of a founder member of Toronto daffodil day, who told of a small group of cancer-support volunteers working with army veterans to sell the flower and start the first Daffodil Day.

What hooked Cully, says his widow, Margaret - the entrepreneur and businessman died in 2000 aged 65 - “was the sense of a long dreary winter and the daffodil being a sign of hope that spring and summer were on the way, the idea of ‘oh, my goodness, the long dreariness is over’.

When Cully came home, asking ‘why not Daffodil Day for Ireland?’, everybody was very much in favour,” says Margaret.

“We went around, badgering everybody who had daffodils, and everybody said ‘yes, I’ll pick some’. One person told another who told another - it was like a chain. We all went in different directions and collected buckets of fresh daffodils.”

Garden lovers with a passion for daffodils rallied to the cause, such as the late Corona North, owner of Altamont, near Tullow. “She literally went and picked every daffodil she had,” says Margaret.

On the first Daffodil Day, in 1988, buckets of the flowers arrived at ICS headquarters. Contacts in Hong Kong sent 10,000 artificial daffodil buttonholes. Hundreds of volunteers collected the daffodils. “Relatives and friends stood at every street corner,” says Margaret. “At the end of the day, in Dublin, people were taking just one daffodil because the sellers were running out of them.” The target was £100,000 - £320,000 was raised.

In Ireland in the 1980s, people hardly dared say ‘cancer’. When they did, it was in hushed tones and coded language. Courtesy of Daffodil Day, ‘cancer’ became associated with a bright, brave symbol.

ICS chief executive John Mc-Cormack began working with the society in 1989.

“Cancer was much less discussed than it is today. People were afraid to talk about it. But talking about daffodils on Daffodil Day gave them a new kind of language, particularly people who’d lost a loved one to cancer.

“This was a way they could do something in memory of their loved one. They knew the funds would help people needing the services of palliative care teams, would help families caring for a person who was going to pass away from cancer,” he says.

Proceeds went towards home-care teams, which were new in Ireland in the late 1980s.

“Prior to that, there were no such services for people. GPs did much in terms of pain relief, but in many cases people passed away in hospital. Home-care teams allowed people be home with their families at this crucial time. Daffodil Day helped set up these teams,” says McCormack.

From the mid-1990s, the State started funding the teams - now it meets the bulk of the cost, though there is significant local fundraising. “It’s very positive when a charity trailblazes a new service and then has it taken over by the State,” says McCormack.

The Irish Cancer Society - through Daffodil Day - is the sole provider of free home-based night-nursing to cancer patients, providing terminal care for people expected to die within 10 days or so. Altogether, 230 night nurses work with the society - in 2011, providing 8,000 nights of care to 2,014 patients in their homes, an increase of 13% on 2010. The service costs •2.5m a year.

“Night nurses are trained general nurses. Their work may take them to very remote parts of the country - up boreens. They go out at 11pm and they’re on duty until 7am. By staying with the patient all night, they give families a break. If a patient needs help or deteriorates during the night, the nurse calls the family. Their presence means the family gets a night’s sleep.”

Today, 4,000 volunteers - ‘ordi-nary heroes’ as the ICS calls them - will take to the streets selling daffodils to bring in this year’s target of €3.5m. “Many of these volunteers have been with us for 25 years. In the run-up to Daffodil Day, their homes become Daffodil Day houses, with boxes of promotional items in spare rooms and garages,” says McCormack.

With 30,000 cases of cancer diagnosed each year, the Daffodil Day cause is dear to many and new volunteers join every year.

Becca Roche, a 21-year-old Irish studies student at Trinity College, is president of the Trinity College Cancer Society. This will be her fourth year selling daffodils and today she’ll coordinate 100 volunteers - all students - to do the same on Nassau, Dame and Pearse streets, as well as at the gate of Trinity.

“I’ll sell wherever I fit in, probably the front gate of TCD. I quite like it there - people are generous,” she says.

On this 25th anniversary of Daffodil Day, when volunteers bring their bunches of daffodils to sell in all kinds of venues, they’ll be fundraising not just for the night-nurse service, but for the National Cancer Helpline (Freefone 1800 200700). In 2011, cancer specialist nurses responded to 22,120 enquiries.

Funds will also go towards the running costs of seven hospital-based Daffodil Centres, which address the information and support needs of those concerned about cancer, as well as towards providing financial aid for people whose cancer journey poses difficult economic challenges.

. To be an ‘ordinary hero’ today, buy a bunch of daffodils from a ‘hero’ on the street. Visit www.cancer.ie.

What’s happening

Nurse Eileen Kennedy, above, is an oncology liaison nurse at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork. It is though the funds raised on Daffodil Day that her work is made possible.

Today, more than 4,000 volunteers are selling fresh and silk daffodils, as well as daffodil pins. Thousands of paper daffodils - stuck onto wooden lollipop sticks - will form Gardens of Hope in:

. Phoenix Park

. Irish Cancer Society front garden

. People’s Park, Limerick

. Bishop Lucey Park, Cork

. Kennedy Park, Galway.

On the back of each paper daffodil, there will be personal messages from people countrywide, some to loved ones lost through cancer.

. Creating a much-loved spectacle, as he has done on many Daffodil Days, will be ‘daffodil man’ James Gilleran. Wearing daffodils from head to toe and with a green-painted face, he’ll sell daffodils on O’Connell Street, Dublin.

. Across the country, people will be out on the streets selling fresh daffodils and silk daffodils, and street sellers are encouraged to come out in fancy dress this year to add to the fun atmosphere.

. In Cork, there will be a party atmosphere today, with a variety of street entertainment - watch for choirs, local buskers and dance performances.

There will also be a coffee morning held at The Farmgate Cafe, between 9am and 11.30am, with an eye-catching daffodil arrangement on display at the English Market fountain.

Members of the Cork football team will even join in and help with the street-selling, and the Cork fire brigade will come out to show their support.

How you can support the 25th Daffodil Day:

. Buy a daffodil

. Donate online - www.cancer.ie

. Donate over the phone - CallSave 1850 60 60 60

. Plant a daffodil online - www.gardenofhope.ie.