High hope for Pride of Place award

THE SPOTLIGHT was on the Hope Centre in Enniscorthy last week as the Pride of Place judges paid a visit to get a glimpse at the work that goes on in the centre.

Manager of the centre Mick Kavanagh gave a presentation about the service that they provide for those who have been touched by cancer. Two service users also gave an emo- tional account of their experience with the centre.

‘ This was a new one for the Hope Centre as we don’t usually ask our service users to do this kind of thing,’ explained Mick. ‘But the two of them were very passionate about speaking. They gave an account of their journey through the Hope Centre. It was a very powerful moment.’

The talk was followed by a tour of the centre, during which the judges were shown around each of the rooms and met many of the staff members and volunteers that keep the service going. They ended their visit by sharing lunch with staff and volunteers.

Over all, Mick feels that the visit went well and he has high hopes for November.

‘ The judges seemed very impressed. They asked a lot of questions and there was a really positive atmosphere,’ he said. ‘It was a great acknowledgement of the work that we do here.’

‘ Though we couldn’t have all of the 250 volunteers around for the day, we had a few from each department. As we always say, our volunteers are like our shadows. You don’t always see them but they are always there in the background.’

The Hope Centre will find out whether they have won a Pride of Place Award at the ceremony in November. In the meantime, they will continue to run their support services at their centre. They are also currently working on establishing a transport service for patients who need to be brought for treatment.

‘ There has been a lot of interest in it but we are just looking at the best way to structure it,’ explained Mick. ‘We hope to have the service up and running by the end of this year.’