Irish news digest

Cork C of I Sports Club supports Frontline Workers

Photo above – Standing Together YET APART…. (front) Junior Cert pupil Donnacha shows one the of the completed ‘face shields’ after assembly by volunteers working at Garryduff Sports Centre, Co Cork. Pic; Larry Cummins/The Echo

The main sports hall at the Incorporated Church of Ireland Cork Young Men’s Association – Garryduff Sports Centre – at Rochestown, Cork has been made available to assist with an important effort to make 10,000 face masks for frontline HSE workers over the next 4 weeks.

The initiative was started by Benchspace, a co-making workspace based in Cork City, who approached Garryduff to ask for the space to work with the required physical distancing. Over one hundred volunteers of all ages are involved A network of (home-based) people are using their 3D printers to print the ‘headband’ items, which are then collected and transported for final assembly with protective ‘acetate sheets’ for use by frontline healthcare workers in the battle against Covid-19 coronavirus.

Vice-President of Garryduff Sports Club and last year’s Club President, Trevor Dunne, explains: “A project has kicked off locally in Cork with the objective of providing Front Line Staff in Cork with Face Shields during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Currently there are 50 independent 3D printers who have come together to produce 10,000 face shields over the next 4-6 weeks through the leadership of Benchspace.

“Garryduff Sports club is being used to provide space for a makeshift assembly line to assemble these 10,000 face shields for the frontline healthcare staff. We are delighted a club to help them.

Father and son… Junior Cert pupil Donnacha was helping his dad Alan . Here he shows one of the completed ‘face shields’ after assembly by volunteers working at Garryduff Sports Centre, Co Cork. Pic; Larry Cummins/The Echo

“All work has been completed in partnership with the HSE PPE Management team and the infection control department.”

Club Patron, Bishop Paul Colton, said: “This is the sort of pooling and sharing of resources needed in this work together at this time. I am thrilled that the ICICYMA/Garryduff has made available what would otherwise be empty and unused space during this pandemic to support such an essential initiative”.

At Garryduff at the moment also, Vice-President Mervyn Kerr, and hard-working club committee member Diane Fehily are making contact with older and more vulnerable members and past-members to offer them support.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to provide all necessary raw materials for the face masks project.
[[] https://www.gofundme.com/f/3d-printed-faceshields-for-frontline-staff?fbclid=IwAR1crPeiIc3ztzufx0Q8iLo3EsnjMngOHDMY77hzfcGxUa0g_SludX6RmMs ]

1K donation by menswear customers goes to SVP

A charity fundraising idea by Detail Menswear of Carlow has never been more timely, nor has it led to such a fitting winner.

At Christmas, the well-known shop at Potato Market, Carlow ran a gofundme page, asking people to make a donation of any monetary value they wished to St Vincent de Paul. Anyone who made a donation was entered into a draw for a Detail Menswear gift voucher worth €250.

“The money came through from gofundme last week and we then presented the proceeds of €1,035.77 to the local Carlow branch of St Vincent de Paul,” Philip McDonald, owner of Detail Menswear, told The Nationalist.

“It really is very timely for St Vincent de Paul, given all that’s going on at the moment,” added Philip.

There was also a very poignant winner of the draw.

“The lady who won was Siobhan Walsh from Dublin, and when I spoke to her she had buried her father the previous week. He always supported St Vincent de Paul, so she wanted to make a donation … it really was divine intervention that she won,” remarked Philip.

The Carlow branch of St Vincent de Paul was delighted with the donation, coming at a time when vulnerable Carlow families may need it most.

Change at some food banks

As the covid19 outbreak develops, foodbanks are changing the way they work so that they can continue to offer services safely. If you need support or want to make a donation, check your local foodbanks website first to see what has changed > [ trusselltrust.org/find-a-foodbank ]

CAP appeal to churches

Christians Against Poverty says – The local Church has never been more essential. We can’t physically walk with people right now, but UK churches are doing lots of other fab things in their communities: Phoning / texting, inviting to online events, dropping off food, praying. What’s your church doing?

C of I adviser to C of E on BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme

BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme Includes a discussion on ethical considerations on treatment choices in the light of coronavirus with Rev Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England national adviser on medical ethics and health and social care policy and Professor Dominic Wilkinson, Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Oxford. (At around 34m)
[ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h28d ]

Prayer points

Pray for those who suffer, those who face untimely death and all those who care for them…

Pray for those who are not able to attend the funerals of loved ones, and for anyone who will be mourning alone…

Pray for the church to be a light on a hill in hospitals, communities and cities where God has placed them…

Pray for an outpouring of love, compassion and service, in Jesus’ name…

Pray for all those volunteering in foodbanks around the country, and for everyone who currently depends upon them. Pray we continue donating and supporting them, and that people receive everything they need…

God in creation

…Along with the worry of the Coronavirus crisis, despite huge efforts to bring bovine TB under control, it continues to cause a great deal of anxiety and stress for many farmers…