Tesco staff to check out €1m for hospice

STAFF in all 87 Tesco branches throughout the country pledged yesterday to raise over €1 million for a good cause.

During 2005, the retail chain's staff will take part in a range of fundraising events and activities for the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), after it was designated Tesco Charity of the Year.

Presenters of RTÉ's The Afternoon Show, Anna Nolan, Blathnaid Ní Chofaigh and Sheana Keane, helped to get the fundraising off to a great start at yesterday's launch.

Tesco Ireland chief executive Gordon Fryett said: "Our staff are particularly pleased that the money they raise will go to their local hospice service."

"We have raised more than €2.5m through our Charity of the Year programme over the past four years."

"Being designated as Tesco's Charity of the year is wonderful for the hospice in Ireland," said IHF chief executive Eugene Murray.

"We believe it will not just raise vital funds for local hospice care, but also help raise awareness of hospice work in the community."

IHF provides support for families and loved ones at that stage of serious illness when the focus has shifted, from treatment aimed at cure, to ensuring quality of life.

In Ireland one in four recorded deaths during 2003 was from cancer. The majority of hospice care services are therefore oriented toward care for cancer-related illnesses.

However, the level of hospice care also needs to be expanded to ensure patients suffering from other terminal illnesses are free from pain and can live rewarding lives to the end.