Boxing Day Charity Walk
The Traditional Loughinisland GAC charity Boxing Day walk at Castlewellan Forest Park is a must for the calendar and a great opportunity to walk off that Christmas dinner, enjoy the fresh air, beautiful scenery, craic and company along the way.
Last year our chosen charity was Suicide down to Zero.
Boxing Day Walk December 2018
Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice
The Northern Ireland Hospice has been delivering high quality, person-centered, holistic palliative care to infants, children and adults adjusting to life-limiting and life-threatening conditions across Northern Ireland for over 35 years. There are estimated to be currently over 1300 children with life-limiting conditions living in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice cares for approximately 300 children each year offering end of life and specialist respite care with their focus centering on the enhancement of quality of life for the child or young person with palliative needs. Many families will be caring for their child over many months or even years and this can take its toll on the wider family’s physical health and emotional wellbeing. Each family cared for will have an identified key worker who will support them throughout their hospice journey and into bereavement.
This high-quality clinical care provided by highly skilled staff is offered both within the child’s home via the ‘Hospice at Home’ service and at the organisation’s facility ‘Horizon House’ in Newtownabbey. Horizon House is a purpose built, wheelchair accessible facility opened in November 2001 for use by the children and young people and comprising ten fully accessible bedrooms and support accommodation including multi-sensory room, quiet room etc. and a dedicated heated hydrotherapy pool.
Families can choose to stay with their child throughout their time in Hospice availing of four dedicated en-suite bedrooms, shared living area and kitchenette. All the family’s practical needs throughout their stay are looked after, such as meals, laundry etc., allowing quality time to be spent with the child. The annual running costs for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice are in the region of £3.82 million of which only approx. 20% is funded by Government, the remainder relying heavily upon donations from the public, business and trusts to enable it to continue to provide the service to families.
