Niall Horan's support for work of ALONE

Mullingar singer Niall Horan has thrown his weight behind the charity ALONE’s Christmas campaign.

Described by the charity as “an avid supporter” of the work of ALONE, Niall has spoken this week about how important it is – especially at Christmas – to reach out to those who may be finding the going tough.

“ALONE is an incredible charity that provides an invaluable service to the community,” said Niall.

“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.”

Niall said that even those small gestures can have big impacts and help the older and vulnerable in the community to not feel as alone at Christmas.

Stating that like many others, he was inspired by ALONE’s work, Niall went on to say he was thankful to their volunteers and the public for helping support the Christmas campaign.

Niall was also grateful to McDonnells Curry Sauce, which has also become involved with the ‘ALONE at Christmas’ campaign. McDonnells made 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.

In support of the ALONE Christmas Campaign, McDonnells is giving away five €1000 cash prizes across its social media pages. McDonnells are asking people to nominate those in your lives who are the givers, the people who put others first and deserve to be acknowledged this Christmas.

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,” said Seán Moynihan, CEO of ALONE.

“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.”

• To help with the work of @alone.ireland donate now at www.alone.ie/donate.