NIFHA Press Room
HELM HOUSING AND MARIE CURIE JOIN FORCES AND STEP INTO SPRING IN STYLE!
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Staff at Helm Housing have embraced the ‘New Year, new wardrobe’ concept with a view to helping Marie Curie Cancer Care raise further funds for its invaluable work. As a result, patrons of Marie Curie charity shops will be stepping into spring in style due to the 60 bags of clothing and accessories recently donated by Helm Housing staff. | The venture is the latest initiative in Helm Housing’s fundraising efforts for its charity partner Marie Curie Cancer Care. Staff and tenants from the housing association have already raised an impressive £7,000 in the first five months of its partnership. Jean Fulton, Group Chief Executive of Helm Housing, Northern Ireland’s largest housing association, discusses: |
“Staff and tenants have really embraced the challenge to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Over the course of the last five months they have organised a wide range of events including coffee mornings, cake sales, dinner dances, and wine and cheese evenings. These events have raised a significant amount of money and helped generate a sense of momentum that we are continuing to build upon. In addition to the recent clothing collection we will also be donating books from our staff library so that they can be sold in Marie Curie’s charity shops.
“At this year’s Belfast Marathon on 3rd May we will also have one full marathon runner, two relay teams and eight walkers putting their endurance to the test and raising money for Marie Curie in the process. Our volunteers will also be helping out along the marathon route.”
Congratulating Helm staff and tenants on their efforts Anne Hannan, Corporate Development Manager for Marie Curie Cancer Care said, “Support of this nature is invaluable. Having such an enthusiastic group of people helping us to raise vital funds for our work in Northern Ireland over the next two years is extremely encouraging.”
“Marie Curie Cancer Care provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give people with terminal cancer and other illnesses the choice of dying at home, supported by their families. These funds play a key role in allowing us to continue this work.”
Helm Housing provides approximately 5000 tenants throughout Northern Ireland with affordable and high quality service and accommodation. To date Helm Housing has provided support and fundraised for PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm), Firomyalgia (NI), Motor Neurone Disease Association, Arthritis Care (NI) and PAPA (NI).
Ends
For all media enquiries please contact Janet McKay on 079 6881 7514 or email janet@janetmckaypr.com
Notes to Editors:
Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities, providing free, quality end-of-life care for terminally ill patients and their families. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it expects to provide care to around 27,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its 10 hospices this year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.
In Northern Ireland Marie Curie Cancer Care:
- Employs more that 200 Marie Curie Nurses who work in the community to provide end of life care, totally free for patients in their own home.
- Runs the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast with 18 inpatient beds, outpatient clinics, day therapy, family support and child bereavement services. On average, around 2,335 people visit the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast each month. And runs similar satellite Day Therapy services in Lisburn and Downpatrick and Ards Community Centre.
- Provides services which cost over £4.5million. While NHS funding covers some of this, most is provided from generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses.
- Supports the choice to die at home. UK research shows around 70 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more that 50 percent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home.
Helm Housing:
- Helm Housing was formerly known as BIH Housing Association, and re-branded as Helm Housing in April 2009.
- Helm Housing is the largest housing association in Northern Ireland, with approx. 5000 tenants. Helm provides good quality social housing utilising funding from both public and private sources.
- Helm Housing’s Mission Statement is: To be the best in Housing within the island of Ireland.
- The change of name to Helm Housing reflects progress since the organisation’s foundation in 1975 to present time where the stock has grown to almost 5,000 units, catering for all types of need, including housing for families and single people as well as sheltered housing for older people.
- Helm Housing also provides a wide range of supported housing for people with special needs managed through partnerships with Health and Social Services Trusts and Voluntary Organisations including homelessness, mental health and learning disability.
