'We want to keep the building': Cork cancer charity fundraising to purchase premises

A local charity is looking to raise €300,000 to “save the building” from which it operates. The Cork Cancer Care Centre, which rebranded as Iris House last year, is located at 26 St Paul’s Avenue in Cork city centre, and has been there since 2012. The building, which is being rented by the charity, is due to be sold, with the charity given to the end of this year to either purchase or move.

CEO of Iris House, Linda Goggin-James, told The Echo that moving is not an option, as Iris House has become a “haven” for the thousands of people who have passed through its doors in the last 13 years.

“We’re trying to raise funds, because we want to keep the building. It’s been our home since 2012,” said Ms Goggin-James.

“Last year, 1,027 people used our service, and that’s not counting the people who were already here with us. Those are new people, who walked in and used the services, so there is a huge demand to keep the centre up and running in order to continue helping people.”

Ms Goggin-James said the charity has invested money to make the property “a second home for people”, adding: “People say that this is their haven.”

“What we have is rare, so if someone asked me what my dream would be, it would be to own the building, so that the service has a permanent home to continue being there for people who need it.”

Iris House was founded in February of 2011 by Ann Dowling Spillane, but then named The Girls’ Club.

The charity was created by Ms Spillane to bring a community of people together who have a cancer diagnosis, or who have someone close to them who is battling the illness.

Having started as a small group of people who would meet at the Ambassador Hotel on Military Hill to host workshops, events, and fundraisers, the charity is now a fully-fledged service offering counselling, holistic therapies, and peer and family supports.

Ms Spillane, who had cervical cancer, passed away in October of 2017, leaving behind a lasting legacy of her vision of community and hope in what is now Iris House.

Ms Goggin-James said purchasing the property would enable the charity to expand its services.

“Sadly, being a charity, we can’t get a mortgage, because we’re not applying as an individual. We did manage to get a loan, but this will only cover a third of what we need.

“If we do purchase the building, we will be able to expand our services, because we would be able to take over the ground floor, and we could use that then as the office and as an additional private counselling room,” she said.

“Right now, we do a lot of juggling around rooms to make sure everyone is covered — we have two therapy rooms, one counselling room, and then a meditation and yoga room, as well as an office space, a kitchen, and a communal area — spread across two floors.

“If we could get the ground floor, we could move the offices down and create another private counselling room, but the main thing is that we want to save the building.”

While the charity supplies invaluable on-site supports to those who are struggling through physical and holistic therapies, their reach goes far beyond the boundary of Cork city, as volunteers and patients alike have created a lasting impact through their Blankets of Hope initiative, which recently hit a sizeable milestone of blankets created and donated.

“The Blankets of Hope initiative started back in 2014 — the whole idea was that when people go through chemo, their bodies get very cold — and when you’re in hospital, the sheets and blankets are very thin, so we thought it would be lovely to make some blankets,” said Ms Goggin-James.

“We contacted everybody we could think of, like the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, knitting and crochet clubs, and now some schools are involved, too.

“As of January of this year, we realised that we hit 35,000 blankets: They are supplied to all oncology units across Munster, as well as Ronald McDonald House in Dublin, Beaumont Hospital, and St James’s Hospital, too.

“Around a year and a half ago we started supplying these blankets to Cork University Hospital’s (CUH) end-of-life unit, as well as the Mercy.

“The CUH work very closely with us, and they roughly take about 1,100 blankets a year off us,” she added.

In addition to the Blankets of Hope initiative, Iris House also offers its patrons access to the only free wig bank in Ireland.

“A very small percentage of people have private health insurance and can get a wig for free,” said Ms Goggin-James.

“The Government will give you €500 towards getting a wig if you have a medical card, but that would buy you very little in terms of a proper wig.

“We do everything here: We fit the wigs, we give the person the products they need to care for the wigs, the headbands, and the bandanas that they need, too. It covers a cost that people don’t have to pay out.

“An average wig that comes down below your jawline can cost €1,500.”

As the charity has become an integral part of the cancer support landscape in Cork, Ms Goggin-James is now eager to appeal to local businesses and organisations to help them achieve their funding goal.

“We have an iDonate and another fundraiser on Eventmaster, but we would be very grateful if a company could help out. Everybody knows somebody who’s been through cancer, and we’ve all seen how they struggle, so it’s important that this support system stays here,” said Ms Goggin-James.

Advanced lymphedema therapist Marilou Pantaleon, who provides on-site therapies for the charity’s users, echoed this sentiment, pleading with the public to assist in any way they can.

“What I hear from people who come here is that this is home and that we provide great support — we do everything in one package and that’s hard to find,” she added.

For more information on the services provided by Iris House, visit irishousecork.ie, or to make a donation to the charity, visit www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/IrisHouseCorkCancerSupport or contact the team at info@irishousecork.ie.