We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE IRISH CANCER Society has said it expects to take a “huge hit” financially after cancelling its major fundraising event in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Daffodil Day – which raises money for cancer research every year – was due to take place on 27 March but all street collections and scheduled events were cancelled yesterday.
The charity says its priority is the health and well-being of its patients, volunteers and supporters, many of whom are categorised among those at risk.
CEO Averil Power said it wasn’t an easy decision to make and expects the Irish Cancer Society will take “a huge hit” as a result.
The charity only gets 3% of its funding from the state so relies heavily on fundraising events such as Daffodil Day which usually raises about €4 million. The money raised provides services including counselling support, providing transportation and practical advice on dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
“We’ve to raise over €20 million every year to pay for our night nursing service, counselling, free transport for patients to chemotherapy appointments, and all the other vital services we provide in communities across Ireland,” Power told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Irish Cancer Society / TwitterWe are so grateful for the incredible reaction from the Irish public in response to our decision to cancel #DaffodilDay. We’ve been inundated by supporters asking how they can help. If you’d like to make a donation, please do so at https://t.co/JTim5OYmHB. Thank you so much 💛 pic.twitter.com/yJWZmdYR0Z
— Irish Cancer Society (@IrishCancerSoc) March 11, 2020
“Many of them are people who have been affected by cancer themselves, either having cancer or a close family member with cancer. A lot of them would also be in the older age group,” Power explained, adding that she’s hoping a way can be found to fill the fundraising gap at an appropriate time.
While we’ve no idea where we’re going to get this money from, we do need it for vital services, we have to protect people’s house in the first instance.
Power says the charity group is now focusing on providing cancer patients and their families with the information, advice and support they need at this time.
You can donate to the Irish Cancer Society via its website here or else text CANCER to 50300.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
More than half the money is taken by the CEOs and people working for the charity anyway.
@Waj Kahn: Yeah, running a charity costs money so let’s not bother donating, right?
@Waj Kahn: Donate a few euro, send a text, hope or pray it doesn’t effect you or someone you care about. But if it does, they’ll be there for you.
@Waj Kahn: They publish their salary costs online which clearly shows your statement not to be true
@Rob Hunt: when you’ve ex TD Averil Power being handed the CEO post despite having zero/nil/none – medical experience or training at 125k a year plus expences and a 10k travel allowance. And other board members salaries totalling 500k, i know money is better donated elsewhere. Gravy train for the boys who didnt get re-elected.
@Crocodylus Pontifex: Avril Power and the board of directors offer nothing in the way of medical experience. I dont see why ex TDs and party members should make up the board of directors
@Waj Kahn: I fully support their excellent work but they fudge the cancer stats slightly in their favour too, which is off putting IMO.
@Arch Angel: that organisation is well past its sell by date I know from family experience they have nothing to contribute
@Richard Russell: Cash Cow unfortunately
@Rob Hunt: Alright lad. Ah stop will u I am not against the charity but against the phenomenal wages for their staff. As they say charity starts at home. The CEO gets more than 100 grand and still gets 10k car and fuel allowance. Why can’t the charity gets multiple staff that works few hours a week and keep the great work running. I am sure there are enough qualified people out there that will help. That’s all
@Sean Ryan: me too pal. The stats and expenditure they publish are never spot on. There is huge corruption going on. And their salaries are a way higher than standard.
@Arch Angel: I do help financially and physically because charity starts at home. I never said to stop donating so don’t jump into assumptions. My point Is clear I am against the phenomenal wages for their staff and expenditure. Did you not read about the Oxfam CEO who was paid Half a Million. Imagine the other expenses that doesn’t even make it to the news. Is that not robbing the poor souls that really need the help. How much cash are they even hiding.
Sure we are in a country that already spent €2billion on building a Hospital with less that 400 beds. And upon visiting the site it looks like its gonna need another 1 billion to complete.
@Waj Kahn: I think it’s the Irish Hospice Foundation you might be thinking of.. their CEO’s get thousands i believe… disgraceful
Averil Power, the Irish Cancer Society’s current CEO, is paid an annual salary of €125,000. Due to the requirement for extensive work-related travel, including weekends, she receives a car allowance of €10,000 per annum
Perhaps Avril could take a pay cut and donate it.
@Maggie O’Connor: I would not single her out. But if the charity gets State money then a cap on pay.
.
@Maggie O’Connor: tell how much you’d run the charity for?
@Chris lynch: 500000
Here’s a thought. The previous CEO at the Society was getting 150 k a year. When this came out during the recession he took a cut of 10k.When questioned about relocating the HQ from the salubrious environs of D 4 Ballsbridge, he said that they provided services from there. Current CEO and former TD, is an impressive person and advocate. She earned the equivalent pay of a civil service grade viz 98k as a TD. Should be happy with that. That’s what Fergus Finley got at Barbados.No charity HQ should be in Ballsbridge. The V de P is off Gardener Street. Should either sell or lease it and move to a cheaper central location. When I meet the daffodil volunteers standing out in the cold and rain to raise funds, I think a more budget conscious approach would be welcome for this and all charities.
@David Glynn: What happens if the actually own the property in Ballsbridge?
Why can’t they stay there then?
It can be short sighted to move, sure it might give them some money but in the long term they have to buy a new property, ensure it suits enough staff, fit it out, ensure it has public transport links/parking for existing staff. etc
@Barry: They own it. In 2004 they sold their hq for 4.5 million and then bought the current one a few doors away.
Leasing somewhere else cheaper option.
@David Glynn: Was she not a Senator who failed to get elected as a TD ? And was she not over some other charity before getting the ICS gig.
Plus the hubby is one of the main journos in the Sindo.
@Dave Byrne: You are correct. Senator, asthma society and editor sindo. Ta.
Such hard luck on the society which does great work for cancer awareness and helping patients and their families who have the misfortune to deal with this terrible disease. One of the few charities I annually support. Hopefully they can recuperate their loss later in the year through other means.
https://www.cancer.ie/ways-to-help
That’s the website where you can find out how to donate directly on daffodil day. We can still support their brilliant work despite the cancellation.
@sinead foley-coleman:
Thanks for the details, I would be a supporter of the street collection.
Just made my donation via the link.
Well done.
Statistically you’ve more chance of developing cancer than contracting covid 19.. 1 in 3 will apparently get cancer and its not picky on your age gender or what region your from either
Some people on here should check up on the career facts regarding Avril Power, first and foremost she was never an elected T. D. and failed on two occasions in trying to do so, she was an elected Senator. She is the one that was caught in December 2015 using taxpayers money to print 7300 calendars to distribute to her constituency shortly before the 2016 General election.
The fact that the government only contributes 3% is obnoxious.
There are a lot of people going to get hammered over the next few weeks and not in a good way ……..
Launch a text campaign to donate €4.00
Leave donation boxes in shops.
You may not make all the money you make but people are good. It’s tradition to donate.
@Serge the llama: there is a number you can text to donate.
@Serge the llama: you can donate €4 by texting CANCER to 50300.
Thanks for the reminder, will remember to donate to them in the coming week to try help the shortfall
Text CANCER to 50300 to donate €4 if you can spare it. This is their major annual fundraiser and it’s cancellation will hit a lot of their vital patient support networks very very hard.
@EmmaB: thanks for the info….done.
The fact that the government only contributes 3% is obnoxious. The organisation does incredible work and should be heavily supported by government
Give an IBAN and we’ll all donate.
Maybe a go fund me campaign would help
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say