Thank you to all of our supporters who supported  the Mater Foundation’s volunteer stand Summer Hamper Raffle 2019.

We are delighted to announce the winner! Congratulations to Elaine Tate of Co. Monaghan, the recipient of a beautiful picnic hamper. Mater Foundation volunteer Maeve Troy, pictured below in the Whitty Wing in the Mater Hospital, drew the winning ticket.

We want to thank everybody who bought a raffle ticket. Your support is invaluable, with funds raised going directly to vital services for the patients of the Mater Hospital, helping us to achieve our goal of advancing care for every patient, every day.

Learn more about different ways to support the Mater Foundation here

We are delighted to announce our Summer Raffle winner. The draw took place today at the Heart House in the presence of Garda Tríona MacGuinness. Nursing staff from the Mater Hospital drew the winning names.

We’d like to extend a big congratulations to our raffle winners!

On behalf of everyone at The Mater, thank you so much for giving so generously of your time to buy or sell tickets to support our Summer Raffle 2019. Thanks to amazing supporters like you, enough funds have been raised to buy urgently needed stress testing equipment and heart monitors as well as continue to help fund lifesaving screening equipment.

Garda Tríona MacGuinness, Nurse Margaret Gallagher and Mater Foundation CEO Mary Moorhead

1^st prize Winner is Pat Donnelly from Co Dublin

2^nd Prize winner is Anne Murnagh from  Co Wexford

Sellers prize is Marian Hally from  Co Kilkenny

On average, the Mater’s Emergency Department sees four homeless people per day looking for help. Witness to the devastating effects on people’s health and well being, the Social Care Dept. in the Mater has recently had funding granted towards providing special care packs for homeless individuals.

With tracksuit bottoms, hoodies, t-shirts and a waterproof bag, the care packs meet the most basic needs of the people that present themselves to the Mater. The Irish Prison Service assisted with this initiative, offering to assemble the packs so that they were ready for distribution.

Governer of Arbour Hill, Liam Dowling, stated; “We all have a responsibility to play a part and contribute to the solution of the this serious problem. The Irish Prison Service are happy to support any initiative which will alleviate this crisis in our society. The offenders under my charge get great satisfaction from their participation in this initiative which makes a positive contribution to helping others.”

Aoife Ryan, Social Worker in the Mater added; “The offer of warm and dry clothing goes a long way towards treating our patients with respect, dignity and compassion. I have witnessed patient’s demeanor change almost instantly from that of defensiveness to one of genuine gratitude and appreciation. We have to continue to provide our most vulnerable patient group with support for their basic needs.”

Pictured below with the new homeless packs is Niall Dawson, Irish Prison Service, with Aoife Ryan and Amanda Casey from the Social Care Dept, Mater Hospital.

On Wednesday, 6th March, the Mater Hospital hosted a commemorative event marking the 200th HIPEC (Heated Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy) procedure given to cancer patients in Ireland. Alongside this, was the roll out of this significant service to women with advanced stage ovarian cancer.

Invited by Ireland East Hospital Group, international speakers included Professor Brendan Moran from the UK and Professor Willemien Van Driel from the National Cancer Institute.

Over 200 Cytoreductive Surgery (CRS) combined with HIPEC procedures have been carried out at the Mater Hospital since repatriation from the UK in 2013. This milestone marks a significant development in healthcare, and going forward, it will have an incredible impact on women’s cancer treatment.

Since September 2018, ten women with ovarian cancer have receive the treatment. The Mater Foundation is very proud to support this significant advance in healthcare, and going forward, we aspire to continue to support the Mater Hospital in bringing world class treatment to public patients.

Transforming Cancer Surgical Care

The campaign for a Robotic Surgical Programme

The Mater Hospital aims to bring a Robotic Surgical Programme to public patients in Ireland.  The preferred practice globally, robotic assisted surgery will enable our surgeons to perform complex procedures with more accuracy, control, and precision.

Our campaign ‘Transforming Cancer Surgical Care’ will provide a €5 million Robotic Surgical Programme that will allow the Hospital to advance the service it provides to all patients. We have the surgical expertise in place to utilise robotic surgery immediately. We need your help to make this a reality.

The success of this campaign will enable the most comprehensive Robotic Surgical Programme in Ireland, encompassing a high volume of surgeries across multiple disciplines through:

• Phase 1: The purchasing of a robot
• Phase 2: Delivering a robotic surgical unit
• Phase 3: Developing a teaching and training centre.

Investing in this €5 million Robotic Surgical Programme will have a profound impact on our patients, allowing them a faster and better recovery and return to daily life and family. With your support we can deliver equity, efficiency, and excellent cancer patient care.

A new album featuring some of Ireland’s most prolific country singers has recently launched, in memory of Ciarán Maree. The youngest of six children from Navan, Co Meath, Ciarán passed away in September 2007, just ten weeks after he was diagnosed with a very rare, progressive form of cancer. He was just 25 years-old.

Following the devastating loss of their son and brother, the Maree family set up the Ciarán Maree Cancer Research and Development Fund, in association with The Mater Foundation. Their aim was to raise money to improve cancer treatments and patient care in the Mater Hospital, where Ciarán was treated.

They have succeeded in raising a phenomenal amount, with almost €400,000 raised in over a decade. Featuring a host of renowned Irish artists, with the inclusion of an original track by Fergal Flaherty entitled ‘The Ballad of Ciaránín Óg’, the album reflects the Ciarán’s powerful and much loved legacy.

On the 19th of September 2018, St. Monica’s Ward Family Room was officially declared open in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. Thanks to the phenomenal support of people like you, there are now 13 new Family Rooms across the different wards of the Mater Hospital.

The Family Room is a vital space for critically ill patients and their families, offering a place of calm and comfort, particularly at a palliative stage of illness. The rooms give families a peaceful place to talk, speak to their loved one’s doctors, or just catch a breath away from the bustle of a public hospital ward setting.

We had the pleasure of welcoming several guests to the opening, including The Papal Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, Ms Olena Shaloput, Chairperson of the International Charity Bazaar, and Mr Declan McCourt.

A special thanks must be extended towards the International Charity Bazaar and Jaguar Land Rover Ireland – both made wonderfully generous donations which enabled the opening of this crucial resource.

Due to the large number of tickets returned for our summer raffle, the draw date has been extended to ensure that all tickets can be processed and entered into the draw.

The draw will now take place on Friday, August 10^th at 14:30. If you have not already returned your tickets, there is still time.

Urgent funding is needed for ground-breaking breast cancer research to help people like Caitríona Plunkett who was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer shortly after her 35^th birthday. Caitríona is just one example of the many people you will be helping by supporting our summer raffle.

Every ticket sold will make a big difference. Your support will bring us one step closer to making vital breakthroughs in breast cancer treatment. Please do all that you can. And don’t forget to send back your ticket stubs and funds today in the freepost envelope provided with your raffle tickets .

Thank you so much for the difference you are making for every cancer patient who depends on the Mater Hospital for life saving treatment. Your support means so much to them.

We were delighted to welcome 40 PwC volunteers to the Hospital’s Elderly Day Care Centre and Post- Acute Services Centre on Friday, May 18th.  A busy and productive day, ten of the volunteers worked together to paint and decorate the ground floor of the Elderly Day Care Centre, including the dining rooms and sitting room used by elderly clients on a daily basis.

The remaining Pwc staff arrived at Post- Acute Services Centre to help the residents ‘pimp my Zimmer’; an activity which encouraged the patients of the Centre to decorate their walkers with a range of accessories. Decorating walkers has been proven to reduce the number of falls for their owners, as well as making the Zimmer frame more identifiable.

Several volunteers took a trip down memory lane, framing pictures of Old Dublin, and placing them throughout the wards. Remembering old times helps to trigger memories, which improves the cognitive abilities of patients with dementia. It was a practical, fun filled morning.

In the afternoon, the patients and volunteers sat down to a traditional afternoon tea, followed by a sing song. Patients thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to chat with their younger guests.  At the hospital’s Elderly Day Care Centre, PwC volunteers finished painting the downstairs of the building, which looks completely revitalised with fresh coats of paint on ceilings, walls and doors.

Community Day is a celebration of PwC’s commitment to local communities and allows PwC employees to give back their time and labour for one day – Friday 18^th May. It is a valuable opportunity for staff to volunteer and gain a ‘hands on’ experience, assisting charities and community organisations with specific projects like painting and decorating and engaging in social activities.

Mary Moorhead, CEO of the Mater Foundation, commented “This is an absolutely fantastic initiative by PwC. The Mater Hospital services the IFSC and so much of Dublin’s business community, and it is wonderful to see business leaders such as PwC support the Mater Hospital. For elderly patients and residents who use the Mater Hospital’s community services, this was a lovely experience for them to meet with young professionals.  Social interaction between generations is so important and I want to personally thank the wonderful PwC volunteers for their hard work and for inviting us to be a part of their Community Day.”

Ciara Dowling, Clinic Nurse Manager at Post-Acute Services remarked “The volunteers did an amazing job.  It is evident that the day was a big success.  Events like these are a lot of work but it’s really worth it when you see the smile on the patients faces “.

Rose Marie McNamara of PwC stated “By engaging with the Mater Foundation and the Mater Hospital’s community initiatives, PwC volunteers learned about patient care, specifically the daily challenges elderly residents and patients with dementia face.  As part of our Annual Community Day initiative, we were delighted that 40 staff volunteered to take part in practical projects and activities that benefited the elderly patients of the Mater Hospital.”