Celia helps brew up interest for hospice charity

FROTHY or plain, black or white, as thousands of people raised their cups of coffee yesterday morning, they were also raising the fortunes of the Irish Hospice Movement to the tune of €1.3 million.

Celia Larkin, the official hostess for Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning, had the coffee pot at the ready in Bewleys Oriental Cafe in Grafton Street, Dublin, to highlight the event. It is estimated that at least 500,000 cups of coffee were consumed yesterday, generating a donation of €2 to the hospice movement for each cup.

The highly successful event in Bewleys was echoed in homes and offices throughout Ireland as thousands of people hosted their own coffee mornings in aid of the hospice movement. Celia, partner of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, said she was delighted to be able to brew up so much interest for the charity. All the coffee was supplied by Bewleys with Bisc and Twix providing the biscuits. All were distributed free in the special Hospice Coffee Morning packs. Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning, now in its ninth year, is the biggest fundraising initiative for the hospice movement in Ireland. This year the event enjoyed a record response from the public.

Celia said everybody at some stage would come to realise at first hand the good work done by hospices throughout the country.

“The hospice movement provides an excellent service, both for people who are terminally ill and their families. It also provides a bereavement counselling service to help people cope with the loss of a loved one,” she said. Thousands of people now benefit each year from the work of the voluntary hospices and home care teams.

Hospice care is all about ensuring the best possible quality of life to the end for people with terminal illness. It responds to their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs and is also supportive of their loved ones.