Everyone Back To Anne’s Place

I love the smell of coffee in the morning…

atest press release from Wicklow Hospice, issued on Monday, 9th September 2024…

Anne Newton. Pic: Conor McCabe

A Wicklow woman who has been hosting coffee mornings for Hospice for the last 25 years, has praised the ‘incredible’ level of support they deliver to patients.

Anne Newton raises an average of €1,000 every year by inviting relatives and friends to her rural home, 6km from Ashford.

She embraces the annual Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning for Hospice as her way of helping to support patients receiving end-of-life care at Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services Wicklow Hospice.

This longstanding and much-loved national event, coordinated by Together for Hospice, takes place on 26th September.

“I hadn’t visited anyone in a Hospice, but then I visited Our Lady’s last year and it was amazing, I immediately felt relaxed and I felt this wonderful atmosphere envelop me, it was incredible.

“You are treated as someone who is living rather than someone who is dying.

“It was so heartwarming, so calm, there was no hustle and bustle. That made me more determined than ever to continue these fundraising events.”

Anne’s initial fundraiser was sparked when she heard a radio ad asking people to support Hospice coffee mornings.

“My uncle had died of cancer a few years before and he didn’t get the chance to be cared for in a Hospice,” said the mum-of-two.

“Every family has to deal with cancer, I don’t believe there’s a family that hasn’t been hit by it.”

From small beginnings, Anne managed to raise €1,100 in 2019, before Covid put the brakes on in-person gatherings.

The Gleeson fella…

“The advantage of having it in your home is that you invite the people and you have control over how many come,” she says.

“I used to do a huge amount of baking but for last few years, my local Dunnes Stores has very kindly been donating goods, which helps me enormously

“I’ve also taken to buying fruit as not everyone wants to eat cake!

“I have also invited people along the road who have moved in and want to get to know other people, they really enjoy it.

“I drop leaflets into letterboxes and spread the word in different WhatsApp groups.”

Anne even sends leftovers to her husband Stephen’s colleagues at Birdwatch Ireland, who also make a donation to the Hospice.

Together for Hospice, The National Hospice Movement, represents 24 Hospice and specialist palliative homecare providers supporting patients and their families across Ireland.

Funds raised locally stay local and go directly to each local Hospice service to innovate, build new facilities, develop new services and deliver quality improvements and extra benefits for their patients and their family members.

Register to host a coffee morning on Thursday, September 26th – or on a date that suits you – online here or call 0818995996.

If you cannot host or attend a coffee morning, you can make a donation to the Hospice Coffee Morning right here.