As for all other local organisations, Covid-19 brought a sudden halt to activities in the ICA. Roscommon Town members had to cease meetings, reading groups, walks, swimming, outings, etc. Behind the scenes however, they were very busy!
At the start of the pandemic there was great emphasis on hand sanitisers and face masks. Both items were very hard to source, and so – as reported at the time in the Roscommon People – the Roscommon ICA ladies started a project to make hand-sewn face masks. All members were involved in the project, either by sewing the masks or by generous contributions towards the materials.
Any difficulty in sourcing materials was facilitated by Frances’ Finishing Touches and to date they have provided hundreds of face masks free to hospitals and care homes including Tallaght Hospital, Sacred Heart Hospital, Fearna Nursing Home, Cloverhill Nursing Home, Plunkett Home, and also to frontline workers in the community.
Meanwhile, ICA members from all over the county have been taking part in a project called ‘Sew Scrubs for Ireland’, an initiative started by Sinead Lawlor who has a background in costume making for the theatre. Her team arranges for kits which include cut-out fabric and instructions to come to each volunteer, and the finished articles are then donated to frontline workers in hospitals and nursing homes.
Guilds from Boyle, Drumboylan, Frenchpark, Castlerea, Roscommon, Knockcroghery and Moore have been involved and the scrubs were handed over to Roscommon University Hospital on Friday, 5th of June. The project was facilitated by Roscommon Community Gardaí who helped distribute the kits and the delivery to R.U.H.
Funding for this project comes from ‘Go Fund Me’, a €4000 contribution from ICA Headquarters and donations from Roscommon Guilds and members.
