Time is the most important gift you can give

THIS time of year is known as the season of goodwill and that phrase may be one that, for some, has lost a little meaning in recent times. Christmas for many—particularly parents with young kids—feels much more like a commercially driven pressure season rather than a joyous occasion to share with loved ones and with that being the case, its no wonder that the eye may have been taken off the goodwill part, but remember it is a great time of the year to take time out to check on loved ones and see if they are getting any support they may require.

Within the Irish community there are some huge families with extended aunts, uncles and cousins sometimes reaching into the triple digit numbers, however, for some in the Irish community—particularly for older individuals—Christmas can be a time of isolation.

Projects like the Emerald Lunch Club (above) operated by Conradh na Gaeilge Glaschú and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Britain aim to tackle isolation for elderly people by bringing them out in to the community and whilst on the face of it they get a simple lunch consisting of soup, sandwiches and a cup of tea, what they actually get is so much more—connection to a community that they may have lost contact with, connection with their cultural identity through music, dance and language, and a sense of belonging in an age when the elderly are often an afterthought.

Projects such as the Emerald Lunch Club are fantastic at what they do, but they only scratch the surface of the wider Irish community and are only able to benefit the individuals who avail of the services provided. That’s where you all come in!

We all know people from our areas, some elderly, perhaps some not who are on the fringes of the Irish community. Perhaps they were once married with a family and, as such, family life took over, now the children have families of their own and they may have sadly lost their partner. People who at one time may have been pillars of their community but now sit outside it looking in. Lets make a change for them this Christmas and moving forward.

If you can spare some time to go out of your way to speak to these individuals and ask how they are getting on. Maybe they could do with a hand getting some shopping sorted, it could be they are overdue a visit to the doctor’s surgery for a health check and you can help them to get an appointment and stay on top of any issues that may be occurring. It could be that you invite them round for Christmas dinner alongside your own family —whatever gesture you can spare, it will make a huge difference. The single biggest thing is sparing the time and offering help.

There is also a wealth of broadcast content both on radio and television which may be of interest to individuals but they don’t know it exists. For example on radio, Celtic Music Radio broadcasts 24/7 from Glasgow both on 95FM and online—available through smart speakers that can connect to the internet—or on smartphones that most people have access to.

For those with smart TVs or Firesticks, there is huge backlog of free content available from Irish language broadcaster TG4 who also stream live through their app for free. Connecting someone to these services and showing them how to access them may seem like a simple gesture but it can make a huge difference for someone in being able to access these services moving forward.

Giving the gift of your time and care to someone who needs it will be appreciated much more than a gift bought from a shop and if we all reach out to one person this year, we’ll have connected with thousands of people!

To each and every one of our readers, I’d like to wish you a safe and merry Christmas wherever you may be and lets all embrace the full meaning of the season of goodwill. Nollaig shona daoibh go léir!

Paddy Callaghan is the Operations Manager of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Britain. You can follow him on Twitter: @paddy_box and Instagram: paddy_box and contact him via e-mail at: paddy@comhaltas.co.uk