Evora Hospice (formerly Southern Area Hospice) has congratulated Lurgan women Deirdre Breen on her nomination for the Pride of Britain awards in recognition of her efforts to help raise over £1million for the hospice.
Deirdre Breen founded the Lurgan-based support group The Friends of Evora Hospice and has given huge amounts of her time to its work.
In December just past, the group reached an extraordinary milestone surpassing one million pounds raised to support Evora Hospice to continue delivering care to patients and families when they need it most.
Evora Hospice provides expert palliative care across Armagh, Down & Tyrone, supporting Southern Health and Social care Trust patients for over 35 years with compassion, dignity, and specialist support.
The Pride of Britain awards recognise heroes from across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales who have made a positive impact in their community. Deirdre featured on UTV last week due to her nomination for the prestigious awards.
Damien Hillen, Director of Development Evora Hospice Care, said: “Deirdre represents everything that is good about fundraising. Her dedication, her energy and her quiet determination have raised an incredible one million pounds for our hospice, but her impact goes far beyond that. She has inspired a generation of supporters, brought people together year after year, and made a real difference to the lives of families across our community. I have seen first-hand the respect and admiration people have for her. She is an exceptional person, a true force for good.”
Liz Cuddy, CEO of Evora Hospice, adds: “Raising such an incredible amount was not the result of one big event. It came from thousands of small actions carried out year after year by someone who truly believes in the difference hospice care makes. Deirdre and the Friends of Evora Hospice have organised and supported coffee mornings, concerts, park runs, and countless other events. She has spent evenings packing hampers, weekends standing in the cold at fundraising events, and most of her free time thinking about how to raise the next amount.
“The money she has raised has helped care for thousands of people with life-limiting illness. It has supported their families, provided comfort at the end of life, and offered emotional support after loss. Evora Hospice relies heavily on fundraising to keep its services going and Deirdre’s work has made a real and lasting impact. Her contribution is woven into the lives of so many patients and families. Most of them will never meet her, but they have felt the benefit of what she continues to do, year after year,” she adds.
ENDS
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