Bar of Northern Ireland Builds Funds for Northern Ireland Hospice

The Bar of Northern Ireland has presented funds for just over £42,000 to their 2014 Charity of the Year, the Northern Ireland Hospice.

Paul McKeown, Programme Manager for the Hospice Rebuild Project and Ellen Hillen, Corporate Fundraising Manager for NI Hospice accepted the cheque from the Bar Charity Chairman, Thomas Fitzpatrick BL and committee member, Ashleigh Jones BL.

Speaking at the reception, Thomas explained “Each year, we aim to support a charity nominated by our membership. We could not be more delighted to contribute towards the new Adult Hospice facility at Somerton House in Belfast.”

As a centre of excellence, the state-of-the-art facility has been designed to care for people with complex care needs and the growing numbers of people in need of end of life care. It will be the first dementia friendly hospice in the UK and will enable the provision of care for people with respiratory and other non-malignant illnesses. New technologies within the building will support nurses in the community to care for more people at home.

Thomas Fitzpatrick recognised the efforts of members stating “We are very proud of our barristers who make our fundraising possible. Thanks to them, we’re able to make a real difference to local people”.