When I was young, I was always ill. As a child I spent months in Beamount Hospital, missed a lot of school. I didn\u2019t even do a primary certificate. Not having been educated, I always felt a bit shy. But somehow, 16 years ago,I decided
\nto volunteer at Our Lady\u2019s Hospice & Care Services in Harold\u2019s Cross. I\u2019m not sure why I did \u2013 but it was one of the best decisions of my life.<\/p>\n
I met such lovely people and started to come out of myself. We\u2019d sit with the patients, help the fundraising team with lots of different jobs and preparing for events. After work, the six of us volunteers would go down to the canteen
\nand some days we\u2019d stay for hours. It was so enriching and enjoyable. We worked on Tuesdays, and everyone called us \u201cthe Tuesday girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
I have such great memories of the hospice. The staff are absolutely brilliant. There\u2019s such a feeling of warmth and family. People look after each other, can\u2019t do enough for each other. It\u2019s always been like that.<\/strong><\/p>\n My friend was in hospice . Her husband rang me, just wanting to talk about how wonderful the Hospice had been for her. She was so well cared for in her final days, and that meant so much to him. He said to me, \u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable, Alice.\u201d<\/p>\n All these years working here, I never thought I\u2019d see the day that I became a patient. The doctors found pancreatic cancer and spots on my lungs.\u00a0 It\u2019s scary, the unknown. But I also have seen what extraordinary care is offered here, which gives me so much comfort.<\/p>\n I\u2019d like money to go toward the hospice. It\u2019s been my home from home for 16 years and it\u2019s a place of love. Anyone who\u2019s been inside just knows it. I feel it\u2019s not much but it\u2019s what I wanted to do and we were always so welcome and appreciated.<\/p>\n If you can make sure people keep feeling that peace and care, after I\u2019m gone, it will be the most wonderful gift.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was young, I was always ill. As a child I spent months in Beamount Hospital, missed a lot of school. I didn\u2019t even do a primary certificate. Not having been educated, I always felt a bit shy. But somehow, 16 years ago,I decided to volunteer at Our Lady\u2019s Hospice & Care Services in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123505,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-parts\/content-flexible_block.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9577","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n