The Little Box of Sunlight.

Welcome, 

What is the Little box of  Sunlight?

Its an initiative to help those who are suffering from terminal cancer and those who care for them. It is designed to compliment the excellent care that is offered by hospice teams. It is dedicated to the memory of Aoife Halpin who's determination, spirit and love inspired all those who knew her during her life. 

While palliative care teams in Ireland offer fantastic support, financial and practical limitations mean that they cannot be by the patients side 24 hours a day - nor should they be, the last days of a loved one are a special time for the family and friends. So this initiative is designed to help empower those closest to the patient with information and tools to help comfort, soothe and care for their loved one. 

The box is designed to act as a counter balance for the real stress, grief and sadness of this difficult time and show that even in the depths of such apparent darkness there is also the possibility of love and closeness. I found that those around us felt  an initial sense of helplessness, family and friends want to help but don't know how. The Little box of sunlight is designed to give practical ideas and tips enabling a significant increase to the level of care and comfort.

 To find out more about the contents of the Little box of sunlight - read on. This initiative is currently in development phase and will launch in early 2010. To contribute advice or support please contact me.

Thanks for stopping by and taking interest in this project. 

Martin O Donoghue

ALL SYSTEMS GO! 22/04/2010

The Irish Cancer society in conjunction with Raheeny Hospice have agreed to trial 30 boxes. These will be distributed by thr Raheeny Homecare teams on a discretionary basis from the 4th of May onwards. While I am delighted the initiative is finally seeing the light of day - I sincerely hope that those who receive a Little Box of Sunlight find within some sollace during their difficult days ahead. A big thank you to Mary Ferns and Aoife Gallagher in the Irish Cancer Society for all their help and support in the last number of months.

Update 12/08/09 - Irish Cancer Society - follow up

The Irish Cancer society are interested in the possibility of developing a manual from the booklet in the box but it could be a number of months before they can allocate resources to it! So its back to the drawing board for a while. 

Update 12/06/09 - Irish Cancer Society

I travelled to Dublin today to meet with the Directors of the Irish Cancer Society. I presented the concept and left a box with them for review. Their initial reaction was positive and they are interested in exploring a trial with one box. A decision will be forth coming within the next few weeks.