Easter bags bringing happiness to older people in lockdown

Good Morning Ballymena said it hoped the bags, which will contain Easter Eggs, sweets, sunflower seeds and puzzle books, will bring a little happiness to their 225 members during the lockdown.

Debbie Chestnutt from the group said: ‘‘We just hope the bags will make them smile. We are going to send them all an Easter card as well, just to let them know we are still thinking about them.’’

Good Morning Ballymena has 36 volunteers who shop and pick up prescriptions and also phone 120 members every day - a number which has increased by 30 in the last week.

‘‘Most of our members are over 70 and don’t talk to anyone all week except the volunteers, so this is an absolutely essential service,’’ said Debbie.

‘‘We are now asking them if they want to be called every day. Most of them have taken up on that offer. Many members just want a daily call so they can understand what the news means to them and their lives. They just don’t know what is going to happen. One man said he thought it was worse than the war.’’

Debbie added ‘‘Thanks to all the volunteers who work for us, without them we wouldn’t have a great service.’’

The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland has awarded £284k to 143 community groups supporting older people in Northern Ireland since launching its Coronavirus Community Fund a fortnight ago.

In two weeks the Foundation has received, assessed and issued the funding to these groups to enable them to deliver a wider range of local support and care services within their communities.

The fast-tracked assessment process has allowed qualifying groups to immediately start to support their communities and help older people who are isolated, alone or in need of help.

In addition, since its launch, the fund has been significantly boosted by contributions from Ulster Garden Villages Ltd, Department for Communities, The ARN Foundation, VSB and The National Emergencies Trust who have collectively provided another £480k, making the total funding available to communities and groups now worth £550k.

This additional funding has allowed the Community Foundation to widen its criteria to support groups helping people with mental health issues as well as vulnerable and isolated people.

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