Good Morning Down Runs Social Event At Quoile Bistro
Linda Baker, co-ordinator for Good Morning Down, was all smiles at the Quoile Bistro last week during the social event for the users of the local befriending community service.
coordinator, at the social session in the Quoile Bistro in Downpatrick.
Good Morning Down has been running for fourteen years and is located in Innovation House in Down Business Centre in Downpatrick. Each week they make a total of 300 plus calls and chat with those in our community who are feeling isolated, vulnerable or are in fear of crime.
Linda said: “Our twenty volunteers and two dedicated part-time staff, Kathleen Greenwood and Aidan Harris, are at the heart of what we do. They are all well trained and respond to the needs of the users of our service from Monday to Friday. It is amazing the difference chatting to someone at the end of the phone can make to someone who is feeling very lonely for whatever reason. Some people have physical issues and can’t get around very well, while other have issues of a more mental kind and are glad of our support.
“All of our workers undergo training for safeguarding for vulnerable adults and for children so they respond effectively to people on the phone, listening for any signs that they may be encountering difficulties. Listening is a very important part of this work and we certainly provide a listening ear for many of our members we are in contact with.
“There are so many people in our community who are very lonely, and it just may not be all that obvious to most of us as we go on about our daily lives. Apart from working with people of all ages in physical and mental health areas, many of our members too are quite old and their social circles have diminished to some degree and their families may not be in the area to provide any real support to them.”
Good Morning Down is supported jointly by the Housing Executive Community Grant and by Phoenix Gas. “We are always delighted that our funders are backing us. The voluntary and community sector can be a difficult place and so many good charities depend of support from key organisations such as this,” explained Linda.
She added: “Today we have pupils from the De La Salle High School in Downpatrick helping us and this is an excellent cross-generational aspect to what we do. It is good for the pupils too to learn about the issues our members are experiencing and it helps develop their social awareness. The boys help out on the day and help with the quiz session.
CHECK LINK FOR PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT
“And we are having ceili dancing from St Patrick’s Grammar after lunch… that should get their toes tapping! Then following this will be a a musical group from New Horizons making a performance which we are all looking forward to.
“On behalf of Good Morning Down, I’d like to thank Conor from the Quoile Bar and Bistro for his great support and making the function room available for us. So far it has been a great day and everyone is having a ball!”
