Time to put faces to names
A group of volunteers, who regularly touched base with vulnerable elderly people cocooning during lockdown, have been granted funding to host a community gathering once Covid restrictions are lifted.
With the Darley day-care centre closed, and staff there redeployed elsewhere on the frontline, Cootehill Town Team members took it upon themselves to play their part, by signing up to the county council’s Volunteer Initiative.
After Cavan Public Participation Network (PPN) got in contact, members of a sub-group began reaching out to provide a point of contact for many in troubled times.
Each of the Town Team’s Social and Community Sub-Group volunteers had between three and five names of people each to make a weekly phonecall.
The opportunity to check-in, chat, or even find out if there was anything a person needed, soon became an invaluable connection for those with the outside world.
Volunteers each signed up to a ‘Code of Practice’, and were given directions on appropriate reactions should an emergency occur.
“It was a huge help for many people,” says Kerry Mullen, chair of the Cootehill Town Team. “We made some lovely friends.”
The group subsequently applied to Age Friendly for grant funding. They were successful, and awarded more than €1,200 to put to good use in planning a social get-together for both volunteers and their contacts.
“When we’re allowed to meet again we’re going to meet the people we phoned,” explained volunteer and local county councillor, Fine Gael’s Carmel Brady.
“We’ll have an event, a tea party or something that will bring everyone together, and really, for a lot of people, help them put a face to the names of those they were speaking with,” adds Carmel.
During the Coronavirus crisis, Town Team members also engaged with Cavan County Local Development on their foodbank initiative, which ran in Cootehill from April until June.
Rev Daryl Edwards, minister of Cootehill, Drum and Kilmount Presbyterian Churches, generously offered the local hall as headquarters, with donations pouring in from far and wide including St Aidan’s and St Michael’s schools.
It also included donations from local supermarkets and suppliers, such as Pauric McAdam (milk and yoghurt), Carmel Brady (eggs) and Amanda Mathews (baked goods).
There were donations too from the Christian Fellowship, as well as many others.
Furthermore, the Cootehill volunteers used a grant from the Council to purchase PPE, supplement the foodbank, and to fund several children in attending summer camps.
The volunteers even received a lovely letter of thanks from local pharmacists in the town - Conor and Barry McCrystal - for the group’s assistance in prescription deliveries in the community.
“Some people have said there is little community or volunteer spirit in towns these days. This has been hugely disproved by the volunteers of Cootehill. They have done a brilliant job.
“We all hope that their services will not be needed in similar circumstances again, but I have no doubt that should they be called upon again, that they would willingly rise to the occasion,” says Kerry.