Kilkenny family raise much needed funds for vital service

A local family has gone above and beyond to support a voluntary cancer support service over the past nine years, raising approximately €24,000.

The Kiely family from Kilkenny City have lended their support to the South-East Radiotherapy Trust (SERT) each year, holding the increasingly popular golf classic.

Established in 2005, SERT is a volunteer-based transport service covering Kilkenny and the South-East providing pick up and collection to and from hospital for patients undergoing radiotherapy.

SERT currently has a fleet of five vehicles carrying up to eight patients at a time with each vehicle driven by one of our 150 plus volunteers on a rota basis.

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For the local family, the support SERT offers is deeply personal. Catherine Murphy nee Kiely lost her husband Noel to a brain tumour in 2014, while the family lost their beloved brother Tommy to ill-health just two years later.

Tommy, a keen golfer was very supportive of the golf classic in its infancy and donated a cup but unfortunately succumbed to his own health battle. The classic originally in memory of Noel now remembers both men lovingly.

"Noel used the bus himself," Catherine told the Kilkenny People.

"We as a family all have cars and we didn't want him to go on the bus but he insisted because he enjoyed going on the bus as he met other people in the same position as himself," she continued.

"It's just such a great cause and people are great to donate."

The family came together for the cheque presentation of this year’s event on Friday night last, where they raised over €3,000 for the South-East service.

Numerous members of the Kiely family showed great determination, visiting friends and the wider community to raise the impressive sum.

However, despite their huge efforts, the support of the public wasn’t lost on them.

"When Noel was diagnosed, he always said ‘when I'm well enough, I'm going to drive the bus’ and unfortunately he never got the chance to do it so when he passed away we felt a golf tournament was the way to go and the support and donations we've received have been unbelievable," Catherine added.

"All my family have been a huge support and we would have never got through things without them," she concluded.

Her brother Fran has been equally blown away by the public’s backing, claiming support is increasing each year, however, this may be the final year of the fundraiser.

But, no matter what the future has in store, the family will state united according to Fran.

"We got on with things, we are a family, we all gather together when anything happens and it’s a very good cause," he commented, adding his thanks to the sponsors of the event.

One such sponsor is Tommy Hackett of Sean Byrne’s.

"Fran is a personal friend of mine, we've been involved over the past few years and it's clear when you get out to the golf course the effort the girls put in," he said.

"We've been involved over the past few years," adding, "we're only delighted to be a support to the family."