Headford News and Community Spotlight - Craving More Than Food

MEN'S HEALTH WEEK! Begins Monday, June 9th. Come on, guys, see if you can get yourselves looking like this in a week. It could happen.


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

The First Meals on Wheels during WWII

If you’ve ever been out driving in the countryside around Headford on a weekday afternoon, you’ve probably passed John Cloonan in the Solas van delivering Meals on Wheels. Some of the people on his delivery route can no longer walk. One is blind, others are nearly deaf, and some just seem ‘lost.’ The one thing they all have in common is that they’re delighted when John arrives with a hot meal.

‘These dinners are mighty,’ Sally tells me. Her house is dark and she stays mostly in one room because she has difficulty walking. The dinner she’s talking about is simple fare – meat or fish, mashed potatoes, carrots and peas – but if you’re hungry and you can’t cook for yourself, it’s a welcome meal.

The Meals on Wheels concept originated in the United Kingdom during the Blitz, when many people lost their homes and therefore the ability to cook their own food. The Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defence (WVS) provided food for these people. The name ‘Meals on Wheels’ derived from the WVS's related activity of bringing meals to servicemen. Sometimes old prams lined with straw were used to transport the meals which might have been covered with old felt hats to keep the food warm in transit. In Australia, Canada, the U.S. and Ireland, Meals on Wheels services began in the mid and late 1950s.

Today, in Headford and surrounding areas, Solas supplies the van and fuel for delivery free of charge, and for six Euros, Angler’s Rest provides the meal.

The Angler's Rest kitchen crew

On this particular Friday, the kitchen at Angler’s Rest is bustling. Niall cooks and Barbara sets up an assembly line of plates. Together, they heap steaming food into separate compartments on each plate, then seal the whole thing up tight to keep the food warm. They work with the speed of a well-oiled machine.

John Cloonan delivering meals

John Cloonan then takes the meals and rushes out the door with them in a sealed carrier, speeding away in the Solas van, into the wilds of the Connaught countryside. Normally, there would be a volunteer to help, but today John is on his own. This afternoon, he’s delivering hot meals to twenty-five different houses, which will require two separate trips to Anglers for food pick up and take a total of four hours.

As you might expect, there are a wide range of personalities taking advantage of the Meals on Wheels service.

One 94-year-old man on the programme used to have his meal delivered to his elderly neighbour’s house so they could eat together. But his neighbour passed away and now John might be the only person this elderly gentleman sees for days on end.

Then there are the demanding customers. One woman decreed that her meal must be delivered at precisely one o’clock. Not 12:55. Not 1:05, but 1:00 pm on the dot. Though this woman did not explain why, and John had to rearrange his entire route to meet her demand, he doesn’t feel cross with her. ‘She probably has medication to take at 1:00 pm and it needs to be taken with food,’ he says.

Some people, like 84-year-old Agnes, come outside to meet the van. It’s clear she enjoys the social lift this visit gives her. John brings her a bit of news from town, and she takes the opportunity to ask after a few people she knows.

Pauline and her care-giver, Phil, come to the door together to collect Pauline’s meal. ‘This [service] is the best thing ever,’ Pauline says. ‘I don’t have to shop or chop or anything.’

When you can no longer drive or even walk very well, shopping for food can be an overwhelming undertaking. More importantly, as John Middleton, Solas Co-ordinator puts it, ‘If it ever happens that other services are needed, we can ring them right away.’

He’s referring to the time a driver was delivering a meal to a man who didn’t answer the door. The driver looked through a window and saw the man lying, unconscious, on the floor. When he couldn’t be roused, the guards, and then an ambulance were called. Unfortunately, the man had passed away, but he might have been lying there for days if not for a visit from the Meals on Wheels driver. Another woman fell in her bathroom and couldn’t get up until the Meals on Wheels crew arrived.

The last stop on this Friday afternoon is down a long, winding back round. It’s a lonely old house, set out on its own and surrounded by vacant green fields. As the van pulls up, an elderly gentleman walks out to meet us. When I ask him what he thinks of the Meals on Wheels service, he smiles. ‘I love it! I love it!’

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Sharing Knowledge

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Every spring swallows arrive in Ireland having travelled over 9500 kilometres from South Africa. During this hazardous migration, many birds die from starvation, exhaustion and in storms, with an average of only 30% actually completing the journey. So what makes these tiny birds undertake such a mad feat? According to Joe Kennedy, writing for the Irish Independent, ‘Swallows are among the most dedicated parents in the bird world. They cover over 200 miles a day just to reach their nesting grounds.’

When it’s put that way, pretty much anyone can understand wanting the best for their young. Even if it means migrating to another continent.

Back in 1998, that’s exactly what Kathleen Van Der Wath did when she and her daughter travelled all the way from South Africa to Ireland. ‘I wanted my daughter to have a good education,’ Kathleen says.

Migration may not be as hazardous for humans as it is for birds, but it does come with a great many challenges and difficulties. Like the swallows who come back to the same places every year, Kathleen came to Ireland because ‘that’s where Grandfather Kelly came from – Tipperary.’

Kathleen’s daughter, Tammy, did get that good education and she’s migrated, once again, to Perth where she works as a hairdresser in a salon.

Kathleen Van Der Wath

Now, Kathleen teaches the Over 55’s Computer Classes at Solas, but teaching is something she’s been doing for a long time. She used to teach secondary school science. ‘I’m a math and science head,’ she says. She also got accreditation for hairdressing theory for junior and senior trades so she can teach hair science. Salons don’t offer this, she says, so when her daughter was younger Kathleen taught her the ‘science’ of hair dressing. She teaches the structure of the hair and what shampoos, conditioners and colours do to hair. ‘Not all chemicals are bad,’ she says. ‘The human body contains many chemicals—hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen . . . Chemicals can be good.’

Kathleen travels all the way from the Clonboo area to Headford because, ‘Solas gives me a platform to contribute to the community.’ She also offers a ‘Pampering Course’ – teaching people how to pamper themselves rather than going to a salon. The course covers skin care, masks, exfoliation, hydration, hand massage, manicure and care of the nails. In this course, she also instructs participants in what things they already have at home that they can use for pampering, rather than costly chemicals that aren’t very good for you. 

‘I’ve done the Train the Trainer course and loads of other courses as well. I’m not one of those people who thinks I’m too old to learn.’

So if you or someone you know are interested in the computer classes at Solas but you just aren’t sure, or you want to know more about the people teaching those classes, come back and visit this blog again. We’ll be highlighting each of the instructors. They’re all great teachers and, most important, they’re terrifically patient with beginners.

As Kathleen puts it, ‘I like sharing knowledge because it brings growth and makes people ask questions they wouldn’t normally ask.’

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Making A Difference

Hurry! It's not too late. You can still come to the cookery classes offered by Solas every Tuesday at 10:30 am.


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

When you think of environmental groups, you might think of those dramatic photos of Greenpeace activists who put themselves on small inflatable rafts between giant harpooning ships and whales. Or maybe you remember that cute panda logo, representing the Chinese nature reserves for giant pandas created by the World Wildlife Fund. What you probably don’t think of is a group of mature ladies standing at the shore of Lough Corrib in the wind and rain, doling out homemade cakes, bread and jam, and cups of tea to avid bird watchers. But that’s exactly what the Headford Environment Group did last Sunday at their annual Dawn Chorus event.

Headford Environment Group Dawn Chorus Walk

There were a surprising number of people willing to brave pneumonia-inducing weather from 5:30am to 7:30am in order to walk from Greenfields to Inchiquin and appreciate local birds. In total, thirty-nine species (of birds, not humans) were identified at this year’s Dawn Chorus. Local bird enthusiast, Neil Sharkey, led the walk around Greenfields, and then ornithologist, Gordan D’Arcy arrived and led the group across the causeway, in the howling wind and rain, to Inchiquin.

Gordon D'Arcy identifies birds at Greenfields

After this event, the ladies of the Environment Group performed like attentive Irish mammys, producing ‘refreshments’ before posing for photographs with the Bird Identification sign which they had erected.

On one side, the sign has photos and descriptions of twenty-one species of birds in the area.  On the other side, there are personal reflections of life on Inchiquin before the causeway was built in the 1960s. By erecting this sign, the group hopes to raise awareness and provide information about the rich bird life and biodiversity in the area.

‘We started out as three or four ladies wanting to pick up litter in the Headford area,’ Mags Sheehan says.

Mags was originally recruited from the Headford Women’s Group to join the Solas Management Committee back in 2003. Because Solas target groups include the elderly, lone parents, migrants, those with a disability or who have a loved one with a disability, Travellers, and anyone else who is marginalized by society, its management committee is made up of volunteers who represent these groups. As a single parent at the time, Mags represented the interests of those parenting alone. The Women’s Group and Solas involvement led her to meet others interested in the local environment.

Since its inception five years ago, Headfo­­­­­rd Environment Group has erected the Heritage sign in the square, mapping the area's historical monuments, and giving a history of the town and its people. They’ve sponsored local lectures about Climate Change, Early Monastic Sites, Wolves in Ireland, Bats Stoats and Pine Martens, Hedgerows, Habitat Mapping, Water Quality, Environmental Practices in the Home and Bees. They also raised a small donation for the Community Garden and facilitated Golden Mile work in the area.

‘We don’t have a chairperson or a Board of Management,’ Mags says. ‘We aren’t an official group. We’re really just a group of friends who wanted to get things done.’

As a member of the Green Party, Mags says she ‘feels very passionate about environmental issues.’ She will be standing for election this term for the Claremorris Board, which includes Glencorrib and Shrule areas. ‘This way I can combine community and environmental efforts. I want to make a difference,’ she says.

Other members of the Headford Environment Group include Venetia McElin, Kate McAney, Claudia Luig, Frances O’Reilly, Sylvia Matthews, and Kay Guy.

If there’s one thing this group would like people to know, it’s that each person can make a difference to their environment. Certainly, these women are doing just that. 

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Getting Things Done

For anyone who's interested in birds and also for those intrepid souls who are early risers, the Headford Environment Group will be sponsoring a Dawn Chorus Walk at 5:30 AM next Sunday, May 11th. Following the walk, author, artist and environmentalist, Gordon D’Arcy, will officially launch a Bird Identification Sign. All this early morning merriment will take place at Greenfields, on Lough Corrib, and will be followed by refreshments. For more information, visit: http://headfordenvironmentgroup.org/



COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Getting Things Done

Mother Teresa was once quoted as saying her work was 100% selfish. She did not do what she did out of altruism; she did it because it made her feel good.

According to a poll conducted by Fundraising 123, the main reasons people give to charity all revolve around the pronoun ‘I’. I want to feel I’m not powerless and can help. I want to be seen as a leader. I need a tax deduction. I want to memorialise someone (who is struggling with or died of a disease). Giving is basic human nature, and something most of us have been taught since childhood—in helping someone else, you help yourself.

In the Headford area, one man famous for philanthropic work is Michael Finnerty. Tall and tan, with a gentle smile and an easy manner, when Michael enters a room, he brings a positive feeling with him. And shares it. You can tell right away, this is a man who not only feels good in himself, but he likes to help others feel good too.

Charity work started for Michael over thirty-five years ago. He was down by the lake and had an ‘accident with a chainsaw.’ He credits a friend with helping him and getting him interested in helping others.

Michael Finnerty

‘Help those who can’t help themselves. That’s my motto,’ Michael says.

And so began his association with Ability West, a charity that provides services and supports to people with intellectual disabilities.

These days, thanks to the Central Remedial Clinic payoff scandal, and the €150,000 in cancer charity donations which made its way into the pockets of hospital chiefs of staff, people are understandably concerned about where their contributions end up. Maybe that’s why Michael is quick to assure me, ‘Every penny we collect goes to buy special computers for learning difficulties or fitness gear or to set up a room at Ability West. Not one penny goes into the day to day running of the association.’

For the past twenty-one years, Michael has helped aid the Galway Hospice by either participating as a cyclist or organising the Annaghdown cycling event. He’s also cycled for Ability West and helped accrue over a quarter of a million euro for that charity. So, of course he looks like a man who’s in pretty good shape. But Michael has dealt with some harrowing personal challenges. He’s a cancer survivor, having endured radiation every single day for two solid months ‘including Christmas Eve and St. Stephen’s’ he tells me. Then there were three heart attacks which happened one right after the other when he just happened to be in the hospital. Michael says this proved to him that ‘when you’re number is up, it’s up.’ Yet, he credits cycling and fitness for getting him through all these physical trials.

It was while taking the computer course at Solas that Michael was asked if he’d like to come to a committee meeting for the Centre. ‘I’ve always been interested in helping the community,’ he says. So he went. That one meeting progressed into Michael becoming Chairman of the eight member Solas Management Committee, a volunteer position that includes organising fundraising for the Meals on Wheels programme and the counselling programme. 

 

While volunteer work and fundraising do play a large part in Michael’s life, he also likes to play golf, and the card game ‘25.’ He mentions spending time with his four kids and eight grandkids. And ‘I love sheep!’ he says ‘I have a small farm, and I love it.’

When I ask Michael how he has time for all these things, and he says, ‘Oh, I’m not a fellow for waiting. I like to get things done.’ And he’d really like to see others ‘getting things done.’ ‘I’d love it if more young people would get involved in charities.’ Anyone eighteen and over can help organise events, including sponsorship for events. They might help with the barbeque at the end of a charity cycling event, or offer secretarial skills (for which they can be trained). And, of course, these are excellent things to add to a CV. The next event is a Vintage Rally on June 2^nd. Michael says anyone who’s interested in helping him ‘get things done’ is welcome to ring him: 087.2996956.