Tidy Towns say 'Thank You' to frontline staff

LITTER Volunteers appalled by people dumping used masks and gloves on ground

Thomas Lyons

Acknowledging the work of everyday heroes is the motivation behind a poster campaign members of Cavan Tidy Towns launched at Supervalu stores in the town. Last Thursday (June 18) Paul Lynch, Tony Prunty, Martin Connolly and Tereasa Walsh unveiled the token of appreciation on display in the retailer's stores on the Dublin Road and in Drumalee.

“We just wanted to show a little bit of appreciation for the frontline workers. Carers, nurses, people working in retail have all provided a vital service to the public in the last few months and this is just our way of saying 'thank you' for that. They are heroes,” secretary of Cavan Tidy Towns, Paul Lynch, said of the gesture.

Though many of their activities have been curtailed because of restrictions, the voluntary group has kept itself occupied.

“Our activities have been somewhat limited during the lockdown. We have kept ourselves busy. We have been delivering food parcels to the elderly and vulnerable people. We have tied in with Cavan County Council to do this. We have six volunteers in Cavan Town who have been helping out in that regard. They have done hundreds of deliveries. We tied in with Teach Oscail to help with deliveries.”

Other initiatives include an online colouring competition to engage younger people during the lockdown.

Crazy

The issue of littering is still something they continue to emphasise. “We have being trying to get people to be responsible about the PPE. I work in the healthcare industry and I know the importance of it. When you see gloves and masks just thrown on the ground, it's crazy. I know it is new to everyone, but given the seriousness of the situation people have to be more responsible.”

Paul confirms that there has been an increase in the volume of litter around.

“The bar has dropped,” he tells the Celt. “There is a massive amount of litter around town. There are two reasons for this. One is that the good workers in the council are not out at the moment, and our volunteers are not out. It's a good indication of the impact we have. We haven't done a litter pick in a couple of months, but next week we will be out doing the approach roads to Cavan Town.”

Guidelines

“We are trying to keep busy in a proactive, responsible way. It has been difficult for us. We have have had phonecalls from residents looking for help with the usual spring cleans that take place at this time of year, but we have had to observe the restrictions in place. We have guidelines from An Taisce about how we will work going forward and we will be getting them out to the wider community,” the Cavan Tidy Town secretary said.

Acknowledging those who kept the country going over the last three and a half months is very important tot he Tidy Towns group.

“We have two of these signs in place in Supervalu Drumalee and Dublin Road. We really do appreciate the efforts of the front line workers. Some of our committee are cocooning, some work in the health care sector, some have underlying medical conditions, so we understand exactly the importance of what they have done,” Paul concluded.