A Coffee Morning That Became So Much More
For more than a decade, Anne Lyons has opened the door of her Ballyhaunis home for a Hospice Coffee Morning.
A Coffee Morning That Became So Much More
For more than a decade, Anne Lyons has opened the door of her Ballyhaunis home for a Hospice Coffee Morning.
What began as a simple way to bring neighbours together became an annual tradition – a chance to catch up, share a cup of tea and support local Hospice care.
Anne never imagined that one day, that care would be there for her own family.
In December 2023, Anne’s beloved husband Gerry spent the final weeks of his life at Mayo Hospice. Nine months later, Anne opened her doors once again – this time to an entire community determined to remember Gerry and give something back.
Together, they raised an incredible €11,010 for Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation.
“We didn’t want to be away from Gerry. We wanted to spend as much quality time as a family as we could. It was a home away from home.”
Where it all began
Anne’s connection to palliative care began long before her family needed the services of Mayo Hospice.
Her only brother died from cancer at just 51 years of age. Having seen the support he received from palliative care services where he lived, Anne wanted to find a way to give something back.
A Hospice Coffee Morning seemed like a simple place to start.
She made a few scones, opened her home in Knockbrack, Ballyhaunis, and invited the neighbours in.
What began with a small gathering soon became something the community looked forward to every year.
“It was a nice social thing and it meant that all the neighbours met at least once a year,” Anne recalls.
The tradition continued for more than a decade – even through Covid, when the family adapted their annual gathering into a drive-through fundraiser.
And as the years passed, the Coffee Morning grew.
So too did the amount raised for Hospice – from €400 or €500 in the early years to more than €1,000.
But in September 2023, nobody gathered around Anne’s kitchen table could have known just how much Hospice would soon mean to the Lyons family.
“The nurses never made us feel like a burden. They made us feel held.”
“Knowing other families get this same care is why we fundraise every year now.”
The Walsh family · Castlebar
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