Tuam Cancer Care gearing up for key fundraiser
THE 2026 edition of Tuam Cancer Care’s Pop-Up Shop charity event will be spread across two days.
The event is a key fundraiser for the services provided by Tuam Cancer Care and will be held in the Tuam Stars clubhouse on Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1.
People can expect to see a range of items at the Pop-Up Shop including women’s wear, jewellery, handbags, gift sets, hats, accessories, perfume, jerseys and shoes.
The fundraiser has generated vital funds for Tuam Cancer Care for each of the last three years since Covid. It was first held in 2013, when Orla Heneghan started a fundraiser in memory of her aunt who passed away by selling items from her house in Tuam.
“People are very generous to be fair,” said Orla Heneghan, a therapist with Tuam Cancer Care and part of the organising committee for the 2026 Pop-Up Shop event.
“We get stuff from people in Tuam and from outside, from Dunmore, Milltown and into Galway. We have a good network of people who donate items. It continues into Kilkenny, Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, Leitrim, and Longford.
“People hold onto stuff and donate it for the fundraiser. Unopened gift sets are popular, and handbags are very popular.”
People with cancer and their families are given psychological, emotional and practical support by Tuam Cancer Care. The services are provided free of charge and include support sessions, adult counselling sessions, child counselling sessions, chair yoga programmes, and complementary therapies.
Tuam Cancer Care are required to fundraise more than 50 per cent of their operational costs.Last year, they provided support to more than 300 people, 87 of whom were new clients. “The Pop-Up Shop has turned into our main fundraiser.
We have people who work in Tuam Cancer Care who volunteer at it, and friends of ours from around Tuam who volunteer,” said Orla Heneghan.
“We’re having it on two days this year. It will be on the Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday from 10am to 2pm We’ll be accepting donations until Saturday, February 21.”
Donations can be left at the Tuam Cancer Care Centre on the Dunmore Road in Tuam, from Monday to Thursday from the hours of 1pm to 3pm, and from 1pm to 2pm on Fridays.