We came from humble beginnings, a family affected by cancer hoping to cheer our aunt up with a night out to raise money for The Night Nurses, a facility she had hoped to avail of in her distant future. Unfortunately for her, our first Butterfly Ball came too late, and rather than dancing the night away with her, we celebrated her life instead.

From what was a small gathering of around 100 friends and family our Butterfly Ball has grown and morphed like its names sake.  We struggled during the recession to get numbers, but our loyal supporters have seen us through and it has meant that over the past nine years we have raised close to €100,000 for the Irish Cancer Society’s Night Nurse Programme.

The committee is made up of the Cotter family and close friends, Elaine Dolan Crowley, Annmarie Keating and Aoife Madine, wonderful women that have joined us along the way and made us better and stronger.  Our work is voluntary, but we have all been affected by cancer and strive to help families in their own struggles and battles.

We have big dreams and ambitions for the charity and while we will always support the Night Nurses, we hope one day to have our own respite cottage and be able to afford families a break aware from the stress and pressure of a cancer diagnosis.  We are also currently working with a Transition Year group on creating a teenage cancer awareness programme.

At the centre of everything we do is a desire to help families, and we truly believe that even the smallest thing can make a difference.

They say the beat of a butterfly’s wings can make changes all over the world, thank you for helping us to beat ours and helping us to make a difference for cancer patients and their families all over Ireland.