This Christmas, Marie Curie hospices will be a hive of activity, with dedicated staff working hard to make sure those living with a terminal illness and their families are cared for throughout the festive period.
Nurses like Ward Sister, Deirdre MacStoker and Healthcare Assistant, Dáire Lawlor will be among those providing invaluable care and support for people facing a terminal illness and their loved ones.
Both of them spoke to Belfast Live about why offering care and support through a terminal illness is so important over the festive season.
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Co Monaghan native Deirdre, 37, will be working at the Marie Curie hospice in Belfast this Christmas Eve and Day, having worked over the festive season in previous years also.
"It's actually a real privilege to work at this time of year and Marie Curie provides essential care all year round but Christmas is just that wee bit different," Deirdre said.
"These people are sadly not well enough to go home so it's very important that we facilitate them and their families visiting. It might be their last Christmas or it might not but either way we like to give them and their families the best Christmas that we can.
"We will do whatever we have to to get people smiling, take pictures with their families who come to visit or to have Christmas lunch together. We keep Christmas Day very relaxed and leave it up to the patient to decide how they want to spend the day.
"Every patient is different and some prefer to keep the day as close to a normal one as possible. But there's a lot of happiness and I think people think of sadness when it comes to a hospice and while it has its moments, it's a very happy place.
"It's a lovely place to work because it's so patient-centred. We do whatever we have to do and go out of our way to make sure the patient is cared for and looked after, just like any other day of the year."
"I remember one lady who was with us a couple of years ago. She had been with us for a while and was quite sick but was really close to her grandkids," Deirdre recalled.
"She was quite a glamorous lady and didn't want them to see her when she wasn't well. With Christmas coming, the aim that year was to get her make-up on and have her sitting in a chair for photographs with her grandchildren.
"We were able to do that for her and it gave her great peace and her grandkids some lovely memories too."
And given that she followed her mother into a career in nursing, working over the festive period is nothing new for Deirdre or her family.
"My mum worked as a nurse in a general hospital but also in a hospice. As a child I remember her coming home and talking about 'this wee man' or 'this wee woman' and what they did for them," she explained.
"It was lovely as she got so much fulfilment out of it and it was normal for me to hear these kinds of stories after mammy went to work on Christmas Day. As I got older, that really made me feel that I wanted to do a job like that because of the satisfaction my own mammy got from her work.
"When it comes to working at this time of year, my view is that I can see my family any day and if I can be in the hospice on Christmas Day to make things that wee bit easier for people who are suffering, that's very important to me."
Elsewhere, healthcare assistant Dáire Lawlor will be working with a family on Christmas Eve night, the first Christmas she has spent working for Marie Curie.
Marie Curie healthcare assistants mostly work an overnight service with patients in their homes so would be heading out at 10pm or around that time to spend the whole night with the patient.
Dáire, 28, from Portrush, works the overnight service in the North Coast area after joining Marie Curie earlier this year.
"I've been a carer for the past two years since the coronavirus pandemic because my parents both work in the Royal so growing up as I was always around hospitals and healthcare settings," she explained.
"When I was little my mum would take me around the wards to give water to patients which was really nice and I think the patients enjoyed it too.
"I took on a caring position during the pandemic when I was living in England at the time with my partner then when I moved back to Northern Ireland, I worked in nursing homes in a palliative care role.
"That really clicked with me that I could make a real difference in people's lives so I decided to join Marie Curie and haven't looked back since as I really love it."
Just like Deirdre, working over Christmas is nothing new for Dáire and her family.
"My dad worked at Christmas quite a lot including this year and last year I was in the nursing home and now this year with Marie Curie," she explained.
"I'll be going into the home of someone who needs me and staying overnight so I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to bring comfort to a family over Christmas.
"They do all the hard work with their relative every day and night so for them to have a Christmas without having to worry about that is something I can give them and it's really nice for me.
"I don't think anyone comes in to Marie Curie without feeling in some ways that we are giving something to the families we serve. At the end of the day, I feel that we do the job because it's how we can really help somebody feel settled in their home and also help their families get some rest."
Dáire added: "When I'm driving home in the mornings, the people I see are just starting their days but in many ways I'm finishing mine, which can feel a bit surreal at times.
"I'm expecting to see a lot of families when I'm out and about on Christmas morning and I think that will be really fun to drive past houses and see the lights going on and all the kids up early."
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