Based in Magheramore, Wicklow Hospice is the first specialist palliative care in-patient unit for patients and their families in the county, and its opening marked the culmination of over ten years of fundraising by the local community. It provides in-patient care for those with life-limiting conditions and a new base for the Community Palliative Care team, who provide specialist care in patients’ homes.
The partnership started with a contribution of €10,000 by the Codling Wind Park project specifically to support the development of the Hospice’s inner courtyard. In addition, the project has committed to supporting the Hospice through volunteering and fundraising initiatives throughout the year.
Arno Verbeek, Project Director of the Codling Wind Park project, said: “Wicklow Hospice and the people who work there are beyond inspirational, providing loving care and the highest quality specialist services and support to families, at a time when they need it the most. We are honoured to be able to play a small part in supporting them, and the whole Codling team looks forward to putting our energy, enthusiasm and commitment into building a successful partnership.”
Eleanor Flew, Director of Fundraising & Communications, Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services said: “We are very grateful to Codling Wind Park for their support. This donation for enhancements to the courtyard will help transform the experience of patients and families. It will connect them to nature and biodiversity and make this a welcoming sheltered space to enjoy the outdoors.
“As an organisation heavily reliant on fundraising, support from businesses in the community and the public is vital to us. Covid-19 really impacted our ability to raise money resulting in a decrease of 32% in fundraised income last year. We warmly thank Codling Wind Park for this commitment to working with us and we look forward to working with them as sponsors and through volunteering activities.”
To find out more about Wicklow Hospice and how you can donate to support their amazing work, please visit www.olh.ie
To find out more about Codling Wind Park and how it will create a safer and healthier environment, alongside the vital role it has in helping the Government achieve its renewable energy targets, please visit www.codlingwindpark.ie.
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Notes to Editors
About Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services (OLH&CS)
Established by the Religious Sisters of Charity in 1879, Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services (OLH&CS) provides specialist care for a catchment of over million people with a wide range of needs, from residential rehabilitation to end-of-life care, from our bases in from Harold’s Cross, Blackrock (est. 2003) and Wicklow (est. 2020). The organisation depends heavily on fundraised income and needs to raise €5.5m annually to enhance patient services and continue developing its sites.
As the profile and needs of patients has changed over the years, the Hospice formed three core services, which are supported by education and research, as the bedrock of quality healthcare. Over 700 medical and general staff and 400 volunteers provide world class person-centred care to help patients and residents achieve their best quality of life and support their families. OLH&CS is an accredited ‘Great Place to Work’.
Specialist palliative care is delivered in each of our three locations, making us the largest provider in Ireland. As well as in and out-patient services, we have community palliative care teams who made 9,430 calls to patients’ homes across South Dublin and Wicklow last year.
The main campus in Harold’s Cross houses the Rheumatic & Musculoskeletal Disease Unit, to enable those with a chronic condition to maintain or improve their quality of living. Also on this campus is the Care of the Older Person service, which comprises the Community Rehabilitation Unit (CRU) and a residential unit for older people with high dependencies.
About Codling Wind Park
Codling Wind Park is a proposed offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, set in an area called Codling Bank, approximately 13-22 kilometres off the County Wicklow coast, between Greystones and Wicklow Town.
Codling Wind Park is a 50:50 joint venture between EDF Renewables and Fred. Olsen Renewables. With an expected capacity of up to 1,500 megawatts (MW), it has the potential to supply the equivalent of up to 1.2 million1 Irish homes – 70%2 of all Irish households – with low-carbon, locally-produced, low-cost electricity, and to save almost 2 million3 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
Representing one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in Ireland this decade, the project will deliver substantial benefits to the regional and national economy, including more than 1,000 construction jobs and around 70 long-term, locally based jobs. Further information is available at www.codlingwindpark.ie. Subject to all necessary permits and consents being received, Codling Wind Park could begin construction in 2024/25. Construction is expected to take two to three years to complete.
About EDF Renewables
EDF Renewables UK and Ireland (EDF-R) is a joint venture between two companies, EDF Energy (EDF’s UK business) and EDF Renewables Group (EDF’s global renewables business). EDF Renewables Group has more than 25 years of experience in delivering renewable energy projects in more than 20 countries around the world. EDF-R has an operating portfolio of 36 wind farms and one of the UK’s largest battery storage units (together totalling almost 1GW). The company is providing some of the much-needed new affordable, low carbon electricity across all technologies. EDF-R has an expanding renewables portfolio with almost 4GW of projects in planning and development across wind, battery and solar. It also has 600MW of projects currently under construction. EDF-R has offices in Edinburgh, Durham, London and Dublin.
About Fred. Olsen Renewables
Fred. Olsen Renewables (FOR) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bonheur ASA and is responsible for the group’s renewable energy development activities within the wind sector. FOR is a leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy assets, currently within onshore wind farms. FOR operates in all parts of the value chain, from business development and site acquisition, concept development to detailed design, construction, commissioning, and operations to sale of electricity. FOR’s portfolio consists of 679MW of operational onshore assets and close to 4GW of onshore and offshore assets in development.
1 Calculation as follows: 1,500MW (installed capacity) x 0.3886 (offshore wind load factor, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy UK, 2015 to 2019) x 8,760 (hours in a year) / 4.2MWh (average household Irish annual electricity consumption) = 1,215,762
2 Calculation as follows: According to the Census of Ireland 2016, there are 1,697,665 permanent occupied dwellings, or households, in the State. 1,215,762/1,697,665 = 71.6%
3 Based on the SEAI 2018 carbon intensity figure of 385gCO2/kWh. Calculation for Codling: 1,500MW x 0.3886 (load factor: BEIS July 2020) x 8,760 (hours in the year) x 385 ) /1,000 = 1,965,888 tonnes of CO2 per year