Mercy Week – celebrating an exceptional Mater community
- Release Date: 29/09/2010
- For media enquiries please contact 07 3163 1524 or the afterhours on call media officer on 07 3163 8111.
Mater celebrates its identity and heritage of the Sisters of Mercy in September every year, during Mercy
Week.
The week long celebration from 19—25 September is an organisation-wide acknowledgement of Mater’s
ongoing commitment to its Mission and Values, with this year’s event focusing on ‘celebrating an
exceptional Mater community’.
Mater’s Executive Director Mission Leadership, Madonna McGahan said it was “the contributions of our
different gifts, services and work that create an exceptional Mater community”.
“Though we are many, we are one; and though we all have different gifts and services to offer, it is these
individual gifts that bring us together.
“Mercy Week provides an opportunity to reflect on our history, gather and give thanks as a team and
celebrate Mater as a values-driven organisation.”
The annual Mercy Day Awards, this year presented at a staff Spring Gala on Mercy Day (24 September),
honour exceptional contributions to the organisation in three categories: Clinical Services, Support
Services and Team. More than 80 nominations were received with the following Mater people taking out
the awards:
Support Services Award: Roxanne Regan - Clinical Safety and Quality Unit Patient Representative
Clinical Services Award: Marina Luck – Clinical Nurse
Team Award: Mater Volunteer Services
“Roxanne, Marina and our team of volunteers are representative of the many exceptional people who work
at Mater who bring compassionate care to those in need every day,” Ms McGahan said.
“My congratulations to the winners of the Mercy Day Awards who demonstrate daily Mater’s Mission and
Values in the work that they do and who make an ongoing positive contribution to the organisation.
“The Sisters of Mercy in founding and then nurturing Mater for more than 100 years leave us with a great
legacy, and in working here we are responsible for the legacy that we leave to those who come after us.”
Mercy organisations around the world celebrate Mercy Day on 24 September, coinciding with the Sisters of
Mercy Feast Day, to commemorate the anniversary of the opening of Mercy House in Dublin by the
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founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley in 1827. It provides an opportunity to reflect on the
history and work of the Sisters, and to reflect on the influence of Mercy in our lives.