A kind-hearted elderly woman has made over 100 Christmas decorations for lonely people in her area.
Dubliner Agnes Johnson, 80, was forced to slow down after injuring her hip, but thankfully, it didn’t slow down her caring nature.
Agnes has been volunteering with the Irish Red Cross for more than 30 years and when she realised that many people wouldn’t be able to welcome friends and family to their homes this Christmas, she decided to spring into action.
She said: “I was telling my daughter that I wanted to crochet some decorations for older people in the area and she said to me, ‘Mam, you are one of the older people in the area!’
“I’m lucky though because I have my kids and my grandkids close by and I know that some people don’t have anyone.
“It can get very lonely, especially at this time of the year and I just wanted them to know that someone was thinking of them.
“Anyway, when I’m sitting down making decorations it keeps me out of harm’s way.”
Agnes, from Donnycarney, is a Therapeutic Care Practitioner and gives hand, arm, neck and shoulder massages to care home residents and people in hospices and hospital.
However, due to Covid-19 restrictions these services were paused and Agnes said that, as much as she misses these visits, she knows the residents must be missing them even more.
With some time on her hands, Agnes managed to crochet over 100 decorations, which were then delivered by other Irish Red Cross volunteers, along with meals or groceries and included in Meals on Wheels deliveries in the area.
She added: “A lot of the time you’re providing a bit of a listening ear for people and it’s heartbreaking to think they won’t have that now.
“When I was doing the decorations I was thinking that every stitch I do is one of my thoughts going to someone who is lonely and needs it.”
During Covid-19 the Irish Red Cross has been delivering groceries and prescriptions to older and isolated people in communities across Ireland.
The volunteers have also been busy delivering vital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to care homes, women’s refuges and community locations such as schools, around the country.
