Rory McIlroy's £1m gift helped cancer centre provide 4,000 family breaks

Rory McIlroy loves to win. The Northern Irish golfer has four major titles, and he has never pretended otherwise. But his idea of winning goes beyond the golf course. For McIlroy, success also means making a difference in the lives of others. That’s exactly why he donated £1 million to help establish Daisy Lodge, a therapeutic short-break centre in Newcastle, County Down, for children with cancer and their families. The centre, which started as a place of support for families facing difficult times, has now grown into something much bigger. Ten years after opening, Daisy Lodge had provided more than 4,000 therapeutic short breaks, helping families spend time together away from the demands of hospital appointments and cancer treatment.

People go on holidays to picturesque places. But Daisy Lodge, set against the Mourne Mountains in Newcastle, County Down, was built for a different purpose. It was created for the hardest weeks a family can face. The therapeutic short-break centre has spent a decade giving families a quiet place to rest, talk and be together. The Cancer Fund for Children opened the lodge in 2014. What’s unique about the centre? It’s not a hospital. Families come here for a short break. The centre arranges meals and organises workshops, while therapies are also part of every stay. But nobody is taking a blood test in the lounge. In the ten years since its opening, the charity says more than 4,000 families have come for a short break. These include parents with a child undergoing treatment, parents who have just received a diagnosis and families grieving the loss of a child.

Rory McIlroy committed £1 million from his foundation to support the work. In 2014, during the centre’s development, he said the model should be replicated. “I definitely think it is a project I would like to see replicated and I think can be replicated. I don't think there is any reason why we should stop here,” he said, as reported by ITV. McIlroy’s name, attached to the centre, brings the work to the attention of people who might never have come across it otherwise. And the golfer says he is touched to be part of the vision. "It is about giving back and being able to help others."

In 2025, the centre supported 962 individual families and received 293 new family referrals, according to its year-end report. “521 families availed of a short break at Daisy Lodge Newcastle,” Peter O’Brien, the chairperson, said in a statement. Unfortunately, 83 people supported by the charity died from cancer last year. “We are continuing to offer bereavement support to their families as they come to terms with their grief. ” For families, the value of this support is beyond words. "Having individual support during the last six months for my son has been priceless. He has been able to learn to start to open up more about his feelings to me as his mum and to not be afraid of showing them and communicating his needs,” one parent said. Another parent described how the short break brought so much joy to their child’s life. “It was good for my daughter to talk to someone outside the family and be able to speak about her worries and thoughts. It has helped her deal with her emotions and worries and what she feels inside. She is back to being the happy child we had before cancer made an appearance in our lives.” Over the decade, the lodge has celebrated 280 birthdays, held 7,950 therapeutic workshops and offered 8,925 complementary therapies, according to the charity. The kitchen team has also baked 82,000 pieces of Daisy Lodge shortbread! It may not seem exciting to everyone. But for a family in the middle of treatment, a baking class or a massage can be the first hour in weeks that feels ordinary. The charity is also planning a second lodge, Daisy Lodge Cong, in County Mayo, so it can support more families.