Generosity and effort of Kavanagh’s SuperValu staff and customers leaves Hospice CEO ‘speechless’.
A marathon fundraising initiative by one of Mayo’s leading indigenous companies came to a successful conclusion on Friday night, when CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Cynthia Clampett, received a cheque for €103,156 in Westport.
It was the culmination of almost 16 months of fundraising from The Kavanagh Group, which owns and operates four SuperValu stores in Mayo, and their Managing Director and company proprietor, Noel Kavanagh, was on hand along with many of his staff, to bring the curtain down on a remarkable campaign.
Since they began fundraising specifically for the Hospice in 2012, The Kavanagh Group have raised an astonishing €275,000 for Hospice groups operating in regions where they have stores – primarily Mayo and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, and also Clifden.
The impressive sum of €103,156 was raised specifically in Mayo to purchase a site in Castlebar where the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation will construct a purpose-built medical care facility. The go ahead for this was given by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Thursday last, meaning the timing of The Kavanagh Group cheque presentation capped a perfect week for the local Hospice movement.
The Kavanagh Group operates in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK, employing 1,200 people, and Noel Kavanagh paid tribute to his staff, for their unfailing effort and for always embracing and driving the ‘Help Us to Help Others’ campaign.
“This particular campaign was all about the acquisition of the site and we committed that we would fundraise the €100,000 purchase price and since April last year we have raised €103,156 across our four Mayo stores,” he explained at the function.
“Of the €275,000 we have raised for cancer patients and Hospice care in the west and north west since 2012, €143,000 has gone to Mayo/Roscommon Hospice.
“This is in the midst of the deepest recession we have had in a lifetime and we owe so much to our staff, without whom this would not have happened. Without the team effort that was put into play we would not be here tonight and I want to extend a sincere thank you to the staff of each of our four Mayo stores. Between ‘The Cube’, charity cycles and Sunflower Day, memorial walks, cake sales, you name it the staff did it, and we are so proud of you all. ”Each time a customer of SuperValu in Castlebar, Claremorris, Kiltimagh or Westport used their Real Rewards Card, the company made a contribution to the charity, and Noel also had a big thank you for their support over the past 16 months.
“We are very proud that the funding and success of the activities came as a result of the loyal customers who visit our stores and got behind the various events for the cause. It is the people of Mayo who have made this happen,” he added.
Initiatives
The substantial funding was collected through a series of energy-fuelled activities and fundraisers over the last 16 months, including headline events like ‘HopUp4Hospice’ – a 50km and 100km cycle, ‘The Cube for Hospice’ – a live audience version of the popular ITV game show and memorial walks, which were arranged in conjunction with the Mayo Roscommon Hospice.
Each of The Kavanagh Group’s four Mayo stores partook in various local events, arranged by their own staff and management.
“It’s astonishing in hard times what can be achieved. The fact that these funds stay in our county to provide what will be a wonderful new facility for the care of cancer patients is a very proud moment for all involved‚” added Mr Kavanagh.
Television personality Noel Cunningham was in attendance for the presentation on Friday night. He has long been involved with the fundraising efforts of The Kavanagh Group’s campaign to support Hospice.
Speechless
Cynthia Clampett, CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice, has worked closely with The Kavanagh Group for several years, but was left stuck for words by the success of their latest endeavour.
“I can only offer sincere and heartfelt thanks to Noel Kavanagh and all his managers and staff in their four Mayo stores, they did amazing work,” she said.
“This is the greatest gift and the timing couldn’t possibly be better. The Taoiseach announced the go ahead for our new development yesterday (Thursday) and tonight I am receiving a cheque off The Kavanagh Group for the purchase of the site. I am on a high and it is fantastic, it is hard to say just how much this means to us. Noel and his staff are at the grassroots of this development, I’m stuck for words.
“On behalf of Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation and the patients who will benefit from this facility and their families, my sincere thanks to The Kavanagh Group and their SuperValu customers for all their support in this wonderful effort.”
Authors Comment:
The charity endeavours of The Kavanagh Group of SuperValu supermarkets in Mayo over the past 18 months culminated in a cheque for €103,156 being presented to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation last Friday night in The Wyatt Hotel in Westport.
This was a phenomenal achievement by a team of staff who have embraced the cause of Hospice across the west and north west of Ireland over the past three years, and with €275,000 raised for the cause across the Group’s Irish operation, it represents one of the biggest contributions to the Hospice movement in that time.
Headquartered in Westport at their flagship SuperValu store, The Kavanagh Group employs 1200 people across four Mayo stores and in Clifden, Donegal, in Northern Ireland and in the UK, where Noel Kavanagh Jnr heads up the company’s ever-growing retail operation.
The Group also has other business interests and continues to be family owned and managed, with Noel Kavanagh continuing to lead the team from his Westport base. His son Mark, is Sales Director in the Irish Business, and their senior management team, were also present on Friday night, at what was a joyous occasion for the company, the Hospice and the county.
CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Cynthia Clampett, was fulsome in her praise for the work of the group, and over the past three years their efforts have been behind dozens of unique fundraising events undertaken in Mayo.
From the smallest of cake sales to the largest of occasions like ‘Hop Up 4 Hospice’ the management, staff and customers of the Group’s stores in Westport, Castlebar, Claremorris and Kiltimagh have shown an unfailing appetite to keep momentum behind the initiative. The gift of a cheque for €103,156 last Friday, which will be used to purchase the site for the new, dedicated Hospice care centre in Castlebar, is one that will last the test of time, and one which all involved should be immensely proud of.
There is no family in Mayo that has not been affected in some way by cancer and the palliative care teams and work of the Hospice staff is a vital support link in what can be a devastating time for so many people.
Their work must continue to be supported, and all involved at The Kavanagh Group need to be congratulated for their selfless dedication to a most worthy cause.
Mayo News
Neill O’Neill
