Mayo property agent campaigning to support Sunflower Children's Hospice

A Mayo property agent is appealing to colleagues across the West of Ireland to come together in support of the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, a project close to her heart after her family’s experience of hospice care.

Orla Feerick of Feerick Property, Ballinrobe, has launched the One Fee campaign, asking licensed property agents across the west to donate the fee from one piece of work - whether a valuation, letting or property sale - to support the development of the Sunflower Children’s Hospice in Castlebar.

The Sunflower Children’s Hospice in Castlebar is being developed to provide specialist respite and end-of-life care for children with life-limiting conditions, while also supporting their families. The planned facility will serve families across eight counties along the western seaboard: Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, Clare and Limerick. It is intended to provide a welcoming environment where children can receive specialist care, and families can spend precious time together, closer to home.

The One Fee campaign is Orla's appeal to the property profession to make a collective contribution towards this important project.

Each participating agent is asked to donate the fee from one piece of work. It might be a valuation, a letting or a property sale. Every participating business can decide what is appropriate for its own circumstances. Orla is also sending participating agents a One Fee sticker to display in their office or window, allowing customers to see that their business has supported the campaign.

For Orla, this is about much more than fundraising. It is a way of giving something back following the exceptional care her family experienced during one of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Orla has never forgotten the care her niece received from Mayo Hospice in Castlebar. She said:

“The care our family experienced was amazing. Nothing was ever too much to ask. We saw first-hand the difference that compassionate, dedicated hospice care can make, and I have always had it in my mind that I wanted to do some fundraising in return.

“I attended the Ladies Lunch in Westport in aid of the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, and I left that afternoon having decided that now was the time for us all to get behind this project and help get it done,” she said.

Orla is aware that many people have supported the hospice personally or through their businesses and she says she is ‘genuinely grateful for that.’

“Our profession works with people and families at all stages of life. I hope that, by coming together, we can make a meaningful contribution to a facility that will provide vital care and support to families across the west,” she says.

Orla acknowledges that, ideally, there would be no need for a children's hospice at all. Sadly, the reality is that serious illness and cancer can affect families of every background and at any age. When a family faces such a diagnosis, the availability of specialist care, practical support and a place to stay together can make an enormous difference.

The development is planned to include private inpatient rooms, family accommodation, counselling and family therapies, a hydrotherapy pool, play and sensory therapy rooms, and gardens. For families who have faced long journeys to access specialist care, the hospice will represent an important source of support closer to their own communities.

Donations will go directly to the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, developed by the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation. For information about the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, see www.sunflowerchildrenshospice.ie.