Daffodil Day aims for €3m target

A €3 MILLION target has been set for this year’s Daffodil Day fundraiser — to pay for vital services for the country’s rapidly growing number of cancer patients.

Cancer cases are predicted to increase by 5% each year over the next decade — this will see the number of cancer cases rise from 22,500 to 43,000 in 2020.

As a result the Cancer Society is aiming to double its income over the next three to five years. Around 7,800 people are expected to die from the disease in Ireland this year, while around 120,000 cancer survivors live here

Now in its 21st year, Daffodil Day has already raised €33m for the society, but they hope to top last year’s €3.3m collection in this year’s event on Friday, March 23. The society is seeking volunteers to sell or donate daffodils, hold a daffodil coffee morning or simply buy one of the flowers on the day, to fund services for the rising number of sufferers.

Irish Cancer Society chief executive John McCormack said: “This increase, or epidemic as it is now known, is due to an ageing and increasing population and a general neglect of healthy lifestyle behaviours and is placing a massive demand on our services, which are funded entirely through voluntary contributions.”

The funding will help the society provide a free night-nursing service to allow patients remain at home in the final stages of their illness, which benefited more than 1,250 patients last year. It will also help fund the National Cancer Helpline — 1800 200 700 — which receives 10,000 calls a year, and support a play therapist in the children’s cancer unit in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

* Contact the Daffodil Day office on CallSave 1850 60 60 60.