Friday, 24 March 2017 is Daffodil Day

Des Bishop calls on public to take action and help stop cancer on 30th Daffodil Day

The Irish Cancer Society launched its 30th Daffodil Day, the longest running national collection day in the country, before hundreds of daffodil volunteers at an event in Croke Park today.

Daffodil Day supporters have raised over €66 million for people affected by cancer in Ireland since the inaugural Daffodil Day in 1988. Since then Daffodil Day has become a vital fundraiser involving communities across Ireland who come together to support cancer patients and their families.

RTE’s Dancing with the Stars contestant, testicular cancer survivor Des Bishop, was on hand to launch the day which takes place on Friday, 24 March 2017. The comedian, who lost his father to lung cancer, urged members of the public to show their support for the growing number of people being diagnosed with cancer.

Incidence of cancer is rising and 150 people are diagnosed with cancer in Ireland every day.

Des, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2000 said, “Cancer has knocked on every door in Ireland, it is affecting lives every single day of the year. I’ve faced it myself, my mother has been treated for cancer and my father unfortunately died from the disease. Daffodil Day is an amazing day where the people of Ireland unite to fight back against cancer. This countrywide show of support will help fund important cancer research and care for all those affected by this terrible disease. March 24th, the 30th anniversary of Daffodil Day, is our day to take action against cancer and hopefully, one day, stop it.”

Led by the late Charles Cully in 1988, hundreds of volunteers took to the streets to sell daffodils on the first ever Daffodil Day. The day was set up to raise money for home care services and volunteers smashed their fundraising target of £50,000 and went on to raise £320,000.

Now the annual event sees hundreds of passionate volunteers in every county in Ireland take to the streets to help to fund services including the Society's Night Nursing service, which in 2016 delivered over 8,000 nights of care to cancer patients in their homes.

Daffodil Day also helps to fund other services for people affected by cancer, such as the Society’s 13 Daffodil Centres and freephone Cancer Nurseline (1800 200 700) which provided free advice and information to over 42,000 people last year. The Society also funded counselling for 1,400 people in 2016 through cancer support centres around the country, while the Volunteer Driver Service provided free transportation for patients to attend 11,000 chemotherapy appointments.

Money raised also funds innovative cancer research projects, with €20m invested into lifesaving research since 2010. This investment has supported more than 150 cancer researchers to work on a diverse range of individual or collaborative projects that will ultimately lead to better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer.

Doctor, broadcaster and columnist Ciara Kelly, said, “Unfortunately more people are being diagnosed with cancer in Ireland than ever before. A cancer diagnosis can be very difficult. There’s a lot of fear around the disease so practical supports offered by the Irish Cancer Society are very useful to those on that cancer journey. The other powerful tool we have in the fight against cancer is research, which is continuing to improve ways of detecting and treating this disease. Daffodil Day is our opportunity to continue the fight against cancer and I for one will be proud to wear the Daffodil on March 24th.”

Mark Mellett, Head of Fundraising at the Irish Cancer Society, said the support of the public on Daffodil Day is crucial. “Every three minutes in Ireland a person receives a cancer diagnosis. Without our enthusiastic Daffodil Day volunteers who take to the streets each year, and the generosity of members of the public, we would not be able to help these people on their cancer journey. Daffodil Day has allowed us to provide thousands of nights of nursing care, funded much needed supports for cancer patients over three decades, and enabled us to invest in innovative cancer research projects. We want to continue to be there for people on every step of their cancer journey, but we can’t deliver these services or fund lifesaving research without the public’s help.

“Daffodil Day is an extraordinary day, one that showcases the tremendous goodwill of the Irish people as they stand up and show the thousands of people affected by cancer that they care. Please continue to show your support for all those on that tough cancer journey on Daffodil Day, on 24 March.” 

This year the Society needs to raise over €3m on Daffodil Day to fund vital services and important cancer research.

The public can support Daffodil Day on 24 March by:

Learn more and get involved with Daffodil Day.