Daffodil Day, held on Friday, March 23rd last, raised €3.8 million for the Irish Cancer Society. It is the largest amount raised since Daffodil Day began 20 years ago.
Jill Clark, head of fundraising at the Irish Cancer Society, said: "We are quite frankly overwhelmed by the incredible amount of money raised on Daffodil Day 2007.
"On behalf of the Irish Cancer Society, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the people of Ireland for their generosity and our much-valued volunteers for their tremendous efforts towards this cause."
She continued that the amount raised, "will allow us to maintain and grow our services and bring the highest-quality care and assistance to even more patients and their families at every stage of the cancer journey".
Of that €3.8 million raised, approximately €1.3 million will be used to fund the Irish Cancer Society night-nursing service for the forthcoming year.
All money raised on Daffodil Day every year is channelled into the provision of free nationwide patient-care services,including hospital and community-based nursing services for people with cancer .
The services also include the National Cancer Helpline (Freefone 1800-200700), oncology liaison nursing in major cancer treatment hospitals, grants towards specialist palliative care,nurses in the community and counselling services. They also include cancer nurse education and training, and the society's signature night-nursing service.
The availability of the free nationwide service means that people can remain at home during the advanced stages of their illness, in familiar surroundings where they will have the support of their family.
