On Friday, May 17th, Taxback Group held our annual 5k in aid of the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend.

While on a family holiday to Devon in 2012, tragedy struck as the Twomey Family were involved in a horrific crash with Marek [RIP], a suicidal driver. Regretfully, the crash claimed the lives of Elber’s husband Con, 16 month old Oisín and their unborn daughter, baby Elber Marie. Elber established the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend, an action-packed weekend of sport and fun, to remember with love and to honour Connie, baba Oisín and baby Elber Marie. Their mission is to promote the value of how precious life is.

This year’s Twomey Remorial takes place in Meelin, Newmarket, Co.Cork (the highest village in Ireland) on June 8th and June 9th with something to suit everyone. There’s still time left to register, and you can do so here. If you can’t make it but would still like to help, you can donate online or simply support them by liking their Facebook page.

Nigel O’Donovan [Taxback International] and his wife Marguerite are life-long friends of Elber Twomey and her late husband Con, and needless to say, the charity has become very close to all of our hearts here at Taxback Group. To date, the Twomey Family Remorial has raised over €150,000 for a number of organisations and charities that help those in need including Torbay Hospital in Torquay, Devon, Pieta House, ReachOut, Brú Columbanus and many more.

Teac Tom, a local mental health support facility in Kilkenny, are one of the beneficiaries of this year’s Remorial Weekend. Teac Tom is part of the Thomas Hayes Trust, which was established in 2014 by Angela Hayes, her family and friends following the tragic loss of her son, Thomas to suicide (2010) on the anniversary of his dad’s suicide. The trust’s goal is to offer free and immediate counselling, in a safe and nurturing environment for those directly affected and their families, those suffering from suicidal ideation and emotional distress.

They offer a number of services including emergency response to suicide, counselling services, a 24 hour help-line [056-7796592], and both a school and work liaison service. Their centre on Ormonde Road in Kilkenny opens Monday to Friday from 9:30am – 4:30pm and no appointment is needed. A listening ear in a safe and confidential space, Teac Tom give hope to those that need it the most.

“Our idea is to get people to stop in the moment in time and appreciate what you have in life, because like that it can be gone, so that's the biggest thing to create awareness to value what you have, life is precious that's our main mission ... we're supporting some wonderful charities like Teac Tom here in Kilkenny and the Samaritans in Cork, please god we'll help save a life.''

Elber Twomey

It was an honour to have both Elber Twomey and Angela Hayes attend our event and we’re extremely proud of our employees for getting out and supporting this cause. We’d also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Gillian and all of the team in VHI Healthcare who come out in numbers every year for this event.