By Andy Spearman
Ann Shortt is very well known locally for the decades of work she has put in fundraising for the Drogheda Branch of the Alzheimer’s Association of Ireland (ASI).
We’ve met many times and each occasion has been a pleasure – well for me at least. These meetings were always brief, usually at fundraising events, and I’ve been meaning to sit down for a “proper” chat with her for ages, but the opportunity never arose until recently.
Ann began fundraising for ASI shortly after her father Joey Gallagher, an ESB lineman from Duleek, was diagnosed with the disease and she saw for herself how poorly patients of the terrible disease and their families were catered for by way of Day Care facilities.
The first Alzheimer’s Day Care Centre in Drogheda was opened in 1996 at the Order of Malta premises beside Laurence’s Gate. It was never an ideal venue to care for people both in terms of access and also because the building was very damp.
After several years the Laurence Gate centre had to close and the Day Care service was moved to another Order of Malta building at the Donore Road Industrial Estate.
The dream of one day owning their own purpose-built Day Care Centre was always there but, because the day-to-day costs of running the essential service had also to be paid for, it was a long time before it could be realised.
Ann played a major role in pushing that dream towards becoming a reality by constantly fundraising for many years to not only keep the service going, but to accumulate the €800,000 needed for the new Centre.
It was a long, hard slog and Ann says that initially they were a bit naive about how to raise such a daunting sum of money. Eventually though the fundraisers got better and the money began to accumulate and on 23rd June 2022 the brand new Tredagh Lodge Day care Centre finally opened.
Needless to say Ann and the rest of the committee were delighted with the new centre but Ann says that joy is tempered with regret because some of the people who worked hard to raise the money did not live to see Tredagh Lodge open.
“I’m especially thinking of people such as Ann Dunne, Jennie Heeney, Patsy Rice and Aidan Cullen who worked hard in various capacities and attended lots of meetings but never got to see the place open” she said.
Ann also singles out Gerry Leydon, formerly of Coca-Cola in Drogheda who brought his business acumen with him when he joined the committee which made a big difference.
Once the money was raised there was an exhausting round of meetings with architects, designers and builders.
.jpg)
Gerry and another committee member Paul Lappin came into their own at this stage and, as Ann said, they applied their business heads to the situation and took from the meetings what was needed from the new building in terms of services and the facilities needed to deliver them.
So, after much toing and froing, on the morning of Thursday, 23rd June 2022, after 25 years of lobbying for funding, running coffee mornings, raffles and a myriad other fundraising events, the Drogheda Branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) finally realised their dream with the official opening of the Tredagh Lodge Day Care Centre.
That was a great day, but Ann points out that this is a never-ending story because the number of people in Ireland afflicted with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is increasing all the time and is expected to top the 100,000 mark in the next ten years.
Ann points out that 100,000 patients means that the lives of more than double that number are affected as they try to look after their loved ones for as long as they possibly can.
So the fundraising must continue for the foreseeable future, not only to provide the best possible care for sufferers but also to fund the ancillary services for family members.
Ann says it is very difficult and very lonely for people trying to cope with and look after a family member with the condition which she likens to “a long goodbye” you lose a family member twice as a loved one slowly slips into oblivion.
What keeps her going?
“The more we are out there educating people, the easier it is for families to cope” she says. It is a really cruel disease” Ann said. “That is why the Alzheimer’s Association is continually involved in research with universities and campaigning and lobbying politicians.
It is important also that the people of Drogheda keep up their fantastic support for the good work of the Alzheimer’s Association and keep them in mind when making wills or considering fundraising events.
One upcoming fundraiser you could support is called The Memory Walk which takes place on Sunday September 24th starting from Dominic’s Park at 2.00 pm to Oldbridge House and back. For more information and to register for your tee-shirt see www.memorywalk.ie
