RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan at the launch of Med Day 2012
Daire Kelly & Rosanne Lynham
Contributing Writers
Whatever way they put it, the desperate air of need is rife around those who fund-raise. In the current economic climate, charities are suffering, as are the causes that they support. Donations to SVDP in Ireland fell by 7% in the year 2009 to 2010, and this trend is seen everywhere. So on Friday, the 2nd of November, this year’s Trinity Med Day when confronted by a purple-t shirt-wearing-bucket-touting-gangly-youth, don’t walk past, avert your eyes or cross the road. Please give a thought to what they’re trying to support; services in two of the country’s largest hospitals that our government can’t provide for.
This is the sole aim of Trinity Med Day. Each and every year, the money raised on one single day of collecting pays for vital medical services. Last year alone more than €60,000 was donated to the Heart Failure Unit in St. James Hospital and the Epilepsy Service in Tallaght. Over the past 10 years, more than half a million euro has gone towards improving the quality of patient care in the health service.
10 days, five thousand medical students volunteering and only one goal; to raise more than the year before.
Med Day 2012 is no different. With proceeds going towards Tuberculosis Support in St. James and Chronic Kidney Disease in Tallaght Hospital, this years lot are bringing their A-game! Under the leadership of Eoin “The Boss” Keating, the day hopes to provide care for those currently suffering from TB. The incidence of this actively progressive disease, once though of as an illness of the past, has seen to be on the rise, yet sadly the budget allowance has decreased.
Along with this worthy cause, care services for those suffering with chronic kidney disease will also be targeted. 360,000 people in Ireland are affected by kidney failure and the numbers are, as with TB, continuing to increase. Each of these patients are in a critical condition, with dialysis machines sustaining their lives, as they wait for a better treatment alternative to be found. Med Day hopes to support both these patients and their families, as well as alleviating some of the stressful burdens facing thinning hospital budgets.
The day isn’t all work and no play though, it is a student run event after all! Following the mornings collecting, the Pav calls everyone together. The 2nd of November will see our beloved Pavillion host a tag-rugby blitz, tug-of-war, inflatable games including zorb balls, slides all kindly donated by our local inflatable games hire store, and the annual (much anticipated) slave auction. Slaves this year will not only be selling off a date with themselves, but will also be competing for the title of King or Queen of Med Day. An honorary title it may be but with the added bonus of a Coppers Golds Card thrown in, all bets are off! Once the monarch has been announced, it’s off to the Arts Block for a wine reception and talent show.
An exhausting day finally closes with much lighter pockets, as their owners are released into the night-life of Dublin for the med night of the year. Not a bad way to raise tens of thousands of euro I’d say, in fact I’d be pushed to suggest a better one.
So get involved, get aware, get supporting! Trinity Med Day 2012, November 2nd. Will you look them in the eye?
