Derry's Foyle Hospice receives funding from local retailer’s grant initiative

Foyle Hospice has received a £1,000 grant from SPAR NI, as part of its Community Cashback Grant initiative.

The organisation is one of 20 recipients selected from over 900 applications that came from grassroots organisations, registered charities and community groups from across Northern Ireland.

Bronagh Luke from SPAR NI said it was a difficult task to whittle the final list down, with so many organisations in need in Northern Ireland.

Bronagh commented: “We received 934 applications for our grant this year after announcing even more organisations and community groups in need could benefit. Usually, we spread the £20,000 out between five organisations, but with so many in need we decided this year to give £1,000 each to 20 recipients.

“So many applicants told us about their funding being cut and how great a need there was for their services in many communities in Northern Ireland. While a lot of our grant recipients are based in certain areas, they still provide invaluable support across the whole of the country, allowing them to help even more people, which is what this initiative is all about.”

The only service of its kind in the North West, Foyle Hospice offers a wide range of care and support services through their inpatient unit, day therapy, community home care team and their integrative care clinic. They also provide bereavement support for adults, plus the Healing Hearts service, providing specialist bereavement support for any young person from 4 – 18 years old, who has experienced the diagnosis or death of someone close to them.

The organisation will use the grant to fund making Memory Bears, a significant part of the Healing Hearts service provided to children.

Michelle Kosky, Children and Young Persons' Facilitator at Foyle Hospice explained the importance and poignancy of the Memory Bears project: “During the one-to-one sessions with the children, we are able to support them in designing a Memory Bear from their loved one’s clothes.

“Children can gain comfort from cuddling and holding a bear made out of the clothes of someone close to them. The Memory Bear has been a massive part of the healing process for the bereaved children, ensuring the bond between the child and deceased remains unbroken and continues during the grieving process and throughout their own lifetime.”

There are over 300 SPAR stores in Northern Ireland, each acting as community hubs and are dedicated to supporting local charities and community groups, from hospice centres to foodbanks, with store teams going beyond their roles in-store to engage and help their local communities thrive.

A recent survey from SPAR showed that Northern Ireland had the most community pride throughout the UK regions, with 83% of respondents either very or fairly proud of their local area, followed by London (75%) and Scotland (73%).

The survey also showed that those in Northern Ireland ‘feel like they are a part of their community’ the most, with over two thirds (61%) saying they strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement.