Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr John Sheehan, Cork ARC CEO, Aileen O'Neill and Professor Seamus O'Reilly, Consultant Medical Oncologist at CUH at the launch of Make Room for Cork ARC. Photo: Michael O'Sullivan/OSM PHOTO

Help Cork ARC make the move

Make room, make room! Cork ARC Cancer Support House has a new fundraiser which it hopes will help with its move to a new home.

The campaign asks people and businesses to Make Room for Cork ARC in supporting the estimated €1.6m cost of renovating and fitting out Sarsfield House, a substantial, detached two-storey building in the suburb of Wilton.

The new premises will offer much needed space, privacy and potential for Cork ARC to deliver new and innovative services, which will result in Sarsfield House becoming a benchmark centre of excellence for the provision of non-clinical cancer support.

The campaign was unveiled at Cork City Hall by the Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr John Sheehan and at the heart of the launch was the motif of a purple couch, symbolising the essence of what Cork ARC offers – a quiet room and a comfortable, safe space where people with cancer and their families will find the help and support they need.

Money raised will help Cork ARC make the move from Cliffdale, the original Cork ARC Cancer Support House established in 2003, and transfer operations to Sarsfield House.

Professor Seamus O’Reilly, Consultant Medical Oncologist said: “Since 2003, Cork ARC has been there to help people at the most vulnerable time of their lives, delivering free, non-clinical services that have been proven to have a positive effect on clinical outcomes, and providing a range of essential supports not only to cancer sufferers but also to their families.

“In 2019, those services are needed more than ever. Sarsfield House will provide a more 21st-century appropriate infrastructure so we can better deliver the services that we know will have an impact on the lives of people with cancer. That is our mission,” Professor O’Reilly added.