Richmount News December 2020 Working together for all in our community Welcome to our bumper Christmas edition of Richmount News In this issue we will outline the measures that the Asso- ciation is taking to mitigate against the social affects of Covid 19. We are not going to engage in a doom and gloom scenario, but rather look ahead with hope and embrace opportunities. Vaccines are starting to roll out, but it could be several months before we are likely to see any significant relaxation of restrictions. Packed programme ahead We are forging ahead with projects and we will continue to bring you arts and crafts, as well as develop Good Relations programmes Happy Christmas and investigate and report on the wealth of heritage in the area. честита Коледа Tackling Loneliness & Isolation We want to wish all our readers a We will also be trying to alleviate the growing problem of isolation very happy Christmas and New and loneliness being experienced by many of our older people. Year. Hopefully, when Covid is out of the way our Richmount Elders will The past year has been difficult for be back to their usual weekly gatherings. However, that still leaves many and some have lost loved many older people at home with little contact with the outside ones. world. We will be encouraging older people to get involved in Let us hope that the New Year Zoom and Social Media. We know that this is not for everyone, but brings us good health and a return at the same time we should try. It has become apparent through to normality. Covid that methods of communications are changing and we need This year has been especially to embrace new technology, but we need to provide support to difficult for our older people. This enable people to avail of this. group of people have borne the brunt Cooked Meals for Older People of Covid 19 and many have been We now have facilities in place to deliver full sized meals to our largely confined to their own homes older people at home at an economical cost. These will be substan- for a long time and have experienced tial meals and not the small ones often found in shops. We would real loneliness and isolation. ask you to bring this to the attention of carers and older people. Drive in Christmas Party Christmas is the time for giving but We will be having our first “Drive –In “ Christmas party with great that doesn’t always mean presents. food and entertainment. We now have our own mobile covered Your time can be more precious than stage, which we hope will have many uses in the years ahead, but any present. Why not give your in the meantime it allows us to have live entertainment and comply elderly neighbour a call and let them with the Covid restrictions. know you are thinking about them. Local Murder Exclusive You can also give your time to the True story about a murder in this area—see page 12 community by helping the Community Association deliver its services for the community. We would also wish to thank all the volunteers who helped us help you during the year - your hard work is really appreciated. Joe Garvey, Chairman Richmount Monday 21 December - see page 11 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and re- May you be blessed member the words of the Lord With the spirit of the season, which is peace, Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It The gladness of the season, which is hope, is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35 And the heart of the season, which is love. 1 Dealing with loneliness and social isolation by Joe Garvey There may be light at the end of the tunnel with the Covid 19 vaccines. However, we will still have at least another 3/4 months of severe restrictions and meeting up again, as a large group at the community centre, is likely to be some time away. We all thought that at the end of the summer things were settling down and normality would soon return. Unfortunately, that was not to be. We should be concerned about our older people and the growing problem of loneliness. This can cause serious ill health as it creeps up on you slowly and insidiously. It has been shown that loneliness is one of the biggest killers of older people Imagine being stuck in the house all day for over So many agencies now think it is easy to set up meetings on the past 9 months - no visitors. Not on the Zoom via the Internet and that most people can Internet. - Just the TV for company and the four communicate and keep in contact through social media on walls. It is recognised that this is having a detri- the internet, but here is one startling statistic: 58 % of those mental affect on the mental and physical over 65 in this Council area do not use the Internet. wellbeing of our older people In addition, to this, the local weekly papers are getting 58% of people aged over 65 in the smaller and smaller as readership declines along with Armagh Banbridge & Craigavon advertising revenue. It would be easy to bury our head in Borough Council area do not use the the sand and hope that in a few months time things will be internet - Source NISRA back to where they were. This is unlikely as the cost benefits of Zoom has appealed to organisations with staff working from home and saving office costs. Instead of going to meetings and events they can engage via Zoom. It could be that in the future our presenters will not come to us in person, but communicate with us via Zoom. It could even be that your GP will want to use the same method of communication. I would have to say it would be better than a phone call. What we would hope to do is to encourage and help as many people as possible to use the internet as a means of Virtual parties on Zoom are becoming part of the communication. We recognise that for many older people “new norm” this may be difficult but it is not impossible. We have 90 year olds in our community who are active fol- lowers and contributors to our Facebook page. What is Zoom ? Up until the start of the Covid pandemic very few people had heard of Zoom. Basically it is video conferencing through the Internet. You can connect with one person or a group of people and you can see and talk to each other. There are also facilities to mute or not show your face on screen, but normally you see the people in the group and they see you. The conference is managed by a host so that they can ensure everyone is not talking at the same time and that everyone gets a chance to speak if they want to. Presentations can be made by the host. You are not glued to the computer screen if you A typical Zoom Screen with 25 want to get up and make a cup of tea you can do so. people talking to each other There are many video conferencing mediums and Zoom has become what Hoover is to vacuum cleaners. Generally, you use a computer, tablet or iPad; a mobile phone can be used, but it has limitations due to the small screen. It can be used through the mobile phone networks but you need to be mindful of the data usage and the cost. You will need an email address so that the host can give you the details to be able to join the meeting. For those people on means tested benefits you can have an Internet connection from BT for only £10.07 per month which includes your landline phone . We will be organising training for people who are interested—no computer experience needed. Would you like to know more about Zoom ? 2 Our Plans for alleviating loneliness & social isolation With the help of a £10,00 grant we have just received from the Community Fund we are planning the following: • Try and get more older people on the internet and also to use Zoom as a way of maintaining contact with each other. Training was planned by the Council but had to be postponed due to restrictions. • Publish 10 community magazines over the next 12 months. These will be delivered by our volunteers to older people in the area. This would at least be a regular form of safe contact. • Provide full sized traditional cooked meals which would be delivered to older people in the area. (cost would be approximately £4). We have bought special equipment to help facilitate this. Substantial Traditional This would be a method of keeping in contact with those older people Meals Delivered to your who do not take part in group activities or may not be capable of com- Door ing to the community centre. These would be substantial meals and We plan to provide not the rather “economical one” found in some shops. substantial meals for the older people or disabled in • We have made an application to a funder for 20 computer tablets to our community. We will allow people in their cars to take part in Zoom in our carpark. This prepare a menu of the meals can serve as an illustration of the benefits of Zoom which can be used available.