Health Minister praises valuable work of Mayo Cancer Support Association
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, has today visited the headquarters of Mayo Cancer Support Association (MCSA) at Rock Rose House in Castlebar as part of a day-long visit to Mayo.
The minister was happy to visit the registered charity to acknowledge its recent landmark achievements.
These include attaining full membership of the Alliance of Community Cancer Support Centres (ACCSC) by demonstrating through a rigorous process that the charity operates its cancer support services to the best-practice standards prescribed by the National Cancer Control Programme.
Rock Rose House has also recently been the subject of extensive refurbishments, made possible by a €25,000 Community Recognition Grant awarded by Mayo County Council in 2023, which has enhanced the charity’s headquarters for the delivery of key psychological and emotional cancer support services like counselling, complementary therapies and group activities.
During her visit the Minister was also briefed by the charity’s CEO, Orla Gillespie, and Board of Directors, headed by chairperson, Joan Fitzgerald, on MCSA’s ambitious Strategic Development Plan (2025-2029) and heard how the success of the charity’s fundraising “Brave the Drop Croke Park Abseil Challenge” with Mayo GAA will help fast-track key objectives within the plan to ensure the service continues to meet the cancer-support needs of the county into the future.
Commenting on her visit, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Visiting Mayo Cancer Support Association, I got to meet the excellent team to thank them and to see the very valuable services they provide.
"When this government was formed, we made it clear that we want to support and expand cancer survivorship services delivered in the community.
"I wish Mayo Cancer Support every success in the years ahead as they deliver this vital service to cancer patients and their families."
On behalf of Mayo Cancer Support, chairperson Joan Fitzgerald said: “We are honoured that Minister Carroll MacNeill made time to visit us.
"Achieving full ACCSC membership is a proud moment for our staff, volunteers and service-users, and the refurbished Rock Rose House facilities offer a much-enhanced environment for people to access our services.
The charity’s CEO, Ms Gillespie, added: “Our Strategic Development Plan for 2025-2029 builds on the landmark achievements that have been delivered by past and current board of directors members, staff and stakeholders of Mayo Cancer Support Association in recent years.
"We welcomed the opportunity to have met Minster Carroll McNeill to discuss how, together, we can ensure that people across Co Mayo continue to receive high-quality, free cancer-support services into the future.”