McDonnells announce support of ALONE’s Christmas campaign: ‘ALONE at Christmas’

McDonnells is delighted to be working with ALONE again this year and involved in supporting the charity’s ‘ALONE at Christmas’ campaign. ALONE at Christmas offers the public first-hand advice as to how they too can end the silent epidemic of loneliness and social isolation amongst older people. The secret? The gift of you.

Inspired by ALONE’s Christmas Campaign, McDonnells Curry Sauce is pleased to announce a donation of €10,000 to ALONE to kickstart the 2021 Christmas campaign and partnership. In addition, they are providing McDonnells food hampers to all members of the ALONE housing network to enjoy over the festive period.

ALONE and McDonnells want to encourage people all across the country to pledge one act of giving this Christmas to an older person. As we face into another difficult Christmas, we want people to know that making a difference to someone at this time, is as easy as checking in and reaching out. In support of the ALONE Christmas Campaign, McDonnells is giving away 5 x €1000 cash prizes across its social media pages. McDonnells are asking people to nominate that person in your life who is the giver, the person who puts others first and deserves to be acknowledged this Christmas.

In the last two years, there has been a huge increase in demand for ALONE’s services, the service has been a lifeline for older and more vulnerable people in communities across Ireland. In 2021, ALONE has supported nearly 8,000 new older people. ALONE’s staff and volunteers have made 164,000 calls and visits and they have answered 18,000 calls from older people seeking support, advice or a friendly voice. ALONE’s amazing volunteers have achieved 104,000 hours of volunteering during this timeframe.

If, like McDonnells, you’ve been inspired by the work of @alone.ireland please donate now at www.alone.ie/donate – helping ALONE to be there for lonely and isolated people this Christmas, New Year and throughout 2022.

Announcing McDonnells ALONE charity Initiative, Barry Synnott, CEO of Boyne Valley Group commented, “We are delighted to offer our support to ALONE again this Christmas. They are an amazing charity that provides an invaluable service for communities across the country. As we approach another tough Christmas, now more than ever, it is important to look after the most vulnerable and isolated. No one wants to spend Christmas alone, this is why it is so important to support & share the ‘ALONE at Christmas’ campaign to the public and the McDonnells community. We recognise that even the smallest gesture can light up someone’s day and we hope, along with ALONE, to encourage many people to pledge one act of giving to an older person this Christmas.’

Niall Horan, an avid supporter of ALONE’s work added, “ALONE is an incredible charity that provides an invaluable service to the community. ALONE’s Christmas campaign ‘ALONE at Christmas’ is an important reminder for us all to reach out to the vulnerable in our society, whether that be a phone call or a knock on a neighbour’s door to check in. These small gestures can have big impacts and help the older & vulnerable in our community to not feel as alone this Christmas. I, like many others am inspired by ALONE’s work and am thankful to their volunteers, the public and McDonnells in helping to support their Christmas campaign.”

Seán Moynihan, CEO of ALONE said, “McDonnells have pledged their support to leave no one alone at Christmas. We are delighted to have their support channelled into ALONE to help end loneliness for the isolated across Ireland this Christmas. ALONE have identified that there is no stronger power than community and connection and McDonnells have absolutely shown that this is a significant issue that matters to their staff and customers. While we work to connect or keep connecting our older people to the community, it’s encouraging to have such strong support from organisations like this.”