It has been another wonderful year for Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice as we celebrate our 26^th year of the National event in partnership with our incredible sponsor Bewley’s. From long-time coffee morning hosts baking and brewing coffee in their kitchens, to new recruits bringing coffee morning parties to the office of a Thursday, by hosting a coffee morning you have brought joy to friends, family, colleagues and most importantly raised vital funds to support thousands of patients and their families in Hospice care across all corners of Ireland.

 

Each year we go from strength to strength, and this year was no exception. We had the absolute pleasure of meeting superstar actor and long term advocate of Hospice, Brendan Gleeson, at our Coffee morning launch…to say our staff and patients were star struck is an understatement!

 

Over at government buildings our very own Lucy Greene was served up a hot brew of Bewley’s coffee by none other than the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar himself…don’t mind if we do!

 

Members of the Connaught Rugby team alongside celebrities Danny O’Reilly, Keith Duffy and Ronan Keating all rallied around to create personalised video’s to promote Irelands Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice together with Bewley’s on Social Media, a huge help in getting us to that number one trending spot on twitter! Mario Rosenstock, Maia Dunphy and Clelia Murphy attended coffee mornings in their local hospices to spend time with our patients, staff and guests, and of course, sample the delicious baking!

 

Our absolutely phenomenal sponsor and long-time dedicated partner, Bewley’s, took part in their annual Staff Cycle covering over 500 kilometres, visiting 5 hospice sites  to raise funds. Now that is commitment!

 

Milford Hospice in Limerick, had a special visit on coffee morning from the members of the Limerick All Ireland Senior Hurling Team with the Liam MacCarthy cup in tow. Limerick City & County Mayor James Collins also made an appearance alongside comedian Brendan Grace. A very busy morning for the team in Milford!

 

We had a host in Meath who opened the doors of her home from early morning until late evening to accommodate all schedules, hosts from North Westmeath raised €900 from their small coffee morning by getting local transition year students involved, and two friends from Dublin who have hosted coffee morning together since it’s beginning – that’s 26 years of dedication!

 

To celebrate all of these amazing people, this was the first year of our Host the Host event, which was a rare opportunity for us to thank some of our most dedicated coffee morning hosts. With so many incredible contenders it was no easy task! As a huge thank you, Bewley’s treated our hosts to a complimentary breakfast in the most beautiful room in the Bewley’s café, followed by the awards ceremony. It was fantastic day spent in a room full of positive, kind, generous people who care deeply about hospice.

 

This is just a small snapshot of the support we have received from every corner of Ireland, there are so many people involved both as hosts and behind the scenes, organising, volunteering and getting stuck in and we could not do it without all of you.

 

It goes without saying that Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice together with Bewley’s is about community. It’s about all of us coming together to support one another, to spread positivity, share tears, coffee, laughter and cake! Coming together helps us, and it helps someone else at a very vulnerable time in their life.

 

To you, our wonderful community,

 

THANK YOU.