Pop star Jim Corr has backed a charity book created by a Belfast
photographer aimed at raising funds for the cancer hospice which nursed his
dying mum.
Cliff Mason from east Belfast got the idea for 'Travelogue' - a collection
of his professional holiday snaps- after his 80-year-old mother May spent
her last few weeks battling colon cancer at the Marie Curie Centre at Knock.
He said: "Mum was only in Marie Curie for five weeks. She went in on
New Year's Eve and died at the end of January."
"In the last weeks of my mum's life, I would sit and hold her hand and
talk to her when I was in the hospice," he continued.
"She wasn't responding, but I would chat away. But during the daytime
she would come round and say to the nurses, 'My son was here last night, I
wasn't able to talk to him, but he was chatting to me and held my hand'.
"The Marie Curie nurses were just fantastic. Wee things like that made
me think I have to do something for them."
Travelogue was officially launched last Tuesday at Stormont Gallery and
sales so far have raised £1,500. Among the guests at the event was guitarist
Jim Corr who helped the project by sponsoring printing costs.
"He was someone I'd met a few times and we have mutual friends,"
Cliff said. "He was abroad when I emailed him about the project, but he
phoned a few days later and said he wanted to help."
Copies of the book have a minimum suggested donation of £5. To order a copy
email avalonireland@yahoo.ie
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