Castlebar Social Services development nears completion
Anyone passing through the Castle Street car park in Castlebar over the last number of months must have noticed the building activity at the local voluntary social services centre.
The work is now almost completed and consists of a new entrance, foyer, a new office, storage space, a kitchenette and a new day room together with the construction of a new lift to service the upper storeys of the existing older building.
The architectural design of the new build (pictured) is very striking.
Despite the inconvenience of the building work and Covid-19, the organisation continued its work throughout the pandemic and assisted with necessary shopping, pensions, medication and other essentials that those cocooning needed and also provided an increased meal-on-wheels and befriending service to all who sought or required them during this difficult period.
The new day room service is designed for all or anyone who would like a chat and a cuppa and will enable people to socialise and enjoy planned activities in a group setting.
It will provide older people the opportunity to get out of the house for a nutritious meal and social stimulation. In some cases, too, it will give carers a break.
To quote from one of the Social Services' objectives: “We focus on enriching our users lives, maintaining their independence by letting them live at home and bolster their self-esteem.”
In the new day room, it is intended to have such events as art, musical entertainment and sing-a-long and play games such as bingo and cards and organise gentle exercises.
It will operate during the day time hours, Monday to Friday, with perhaps some evening or weekend use if required.
The voluntary social services can provide transport to and from the centre in their own minibus and will provide occasional local outings, and will too afford people the opportunity to do shopping.
A new lift has been added which will serve the two upper floors of the building and thus enable better and more friendly use of these floors.
These floors can now be accessed by wheelchair users and physically disabled people who might previously been unable to use these facilities’
The members of the board are anxious to thank all those volunteers and workers who have helped them with meals-on-wheels and the befriending service over the years and selflessly give of their time and also to thank those who have given donations and helped in any way with their service.
The centre can, free of charge, arrange pendant alarm service and distribute ‘Message in a bottle’, which will inform the services of your medicines and next of kin, should the need arise.
The voluntary social services also offer a chiropody clinic for their clients at the Castlebar premises.
To access information on any of the services offered by the centre you can ring Deirdre on (094) 9021378 or view a list of services online at www.castlebarsocialservices.com - their new website.
The centre wish all their clients a very happy Christmas and a happy and healthy new year and look forward to welcoming new faces to enjoy the upgraded premises and services.