THE proceeds from two separate fundraisers were handed over to the Kerry Hospice Foundation on Thursday evening.

A coffee morning and a bus convoy trip to west Kerry raised €2,700 and €13,500 respectively, a huge boost for the palliative care unit facility.

Paula Silles has been holding the coffee morning event in her house near Ballygarry for 12 years now and the occasion in September was another massive success.

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Meanwhile, last weekend saw nine buses depart for a drive around Slea Head. Hundreds of passengers enjoyed a fantastic day out stopping along the way. They also enjoyed a tea dance in the Skellig Hotel.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with it,” said Marian Kennedy, one of the organisers. “Anne and Paddy from Kennedy Coaches are the ones who came up with the idea in the first place and we set out to raise between five and six thousands euro and maybe have five or six buses. But we ended up with nine buses and this amount of money and it’s still coming in!” she added.

“It was a brilliant day,” said Maura Sullivan of Kerry Hospice, who was on one of the buses. “There were also free guides on the buses so we learned stuff about 30 miles back the road that we didn’t know before.” She thanked everyone for donating on the day and the organising committee for putting on such a successful event.

The organisers wished to thank the musicians, guides, Skellig Hotel for subsidising the tea and refreshments, while the buses were provided free of charge by Kennedy Coaches, O’Sheas of Tralee, Buckley’s from Killarney, Goggins from Ballinskelligs and Flynn’s from Castlemaine.