65 Roses Day: Here's how you can support people with Cystic Fibrosis this April

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI) has launched its annual 65 Roses Day fundraising appeal which is taking place on Friday, April 12 when people will be urged to lend their support to the CF cause by buying a Purple Rose for €2 or donating online at 65RosesDay.ie.

65 Roses Day derives its name from the way in which young children often first say the words "cystic fibrosis", with funds going to provide a range of much-needed services for people with CF and their families.

There are almost 1,400 people living with CF in Ireland and the number is increasing each year as a result of improvements in treatment and care.

CFI depends almost entirely on the public for the provision of its services and this 65 Roses Day is hoping to raise more than €120,000 for much-needed services for people with CF.

These include providing patient grants for counselling, fertility treatment, and transplant assessment, covering the cost of a number of CF clinical staff in hospitals, and helping to fund the building of the new CF in-patient unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Having reported on the lives of people with CF, and the challenges that they face, it is important for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland ambassador, and RTÉ Six One news anchor, Keelin Shanley, to lend her support: “I have seen and heard first-hand many times the heart-breaking stories of people living with cystic fibrosis and their families. The simple act of breathing in and out – something which the rest of us perhaps can sometimes take for granted – can be Herculean. Given the daily Everest they climb, it is perhaps not surprising how formidable and impressive people with cystic fibrosis are in their resolve to live their lives to the full and to let nothing hold them back."

"As a journalist, my role is to observe and report on a story. But as citizens, I firmly believe that we all have a duty to be part of that story by making that load a little lighter and to make our country a better place for people with cystic fibrosis. You can do that by the simple act of buying a purple rose for €2 on 65 Roses Day, Friday 12th April.”

Keelin is fronting a nationwide media campaign, supported by the project management company, Malone Group, to help raise public awareness of the fundraising appeal.

People can support 65 Roses Day by:

Buying a purple rose for €2 from volunteers, and in participating shopping centres and Spar Stores, or by donating online at 65RosesDay.ie

Completing a 65 Roses Challenge such as playing 65 holes of golf non-stop, or baking 65 muffins for a bake sale at work, or having 65 friends and neighbours around for afternoon tea – for details visit 65RosesDay.ie

Texting 65ROSES to 50300 for €2 [Text costs €2. Cystic Fibrosis Ireland will receive a minimum of €1.80. Service Provider: LIKE CHARITY. Helpline: 076 6805278.]

If you’d like to volunteer and lend your support on 65 Roses Day by selling purple roses in your community or workplace, simply call Brendán on LoCall 1890 311 211, email fundraising@cfireland.ie or visit 65RosesDay.ie