A few weeks ago, three member of Homelink visited our school to give us a talk explaining what Homelink is, and the work the organisation does. We offered to help the organisation in any way we could. During the talk, we learned that Homelink was organising a Christmas Party in the Royal Hotel in Bray for the elderly. We had a sudden flow of inspiration and thought that this was the perfect opportunity to connect with the elderly and be involved Homelink. As our project is based around loneliness in the elderly and learning the about the stories and lives of the elderly, this was exactly what we were looking for! A picture of the YSI group and Homelink members when they came to visit us at school and talk to us about Homelink On the day before the Christmas Party, I phoned Homelink to tell them the logistics and number of students coming to the party. I told them we were willing to do any little jobs for them, and that a few students had offered to perform a song at the party. Once this was done, buses were booked, forms given out and signed and plans made! After school on Wednesday the 23rd November, all the YSI members gathered at the front of the school, and got into the bus around 2 o’clock. We arrived at the Bray Royal Hotel a few minutes later. I had never been here before, and wasn’t sure what to expect. There were two buses bringing the 20 YSI members to Bray Royal Hotel. Our bus arrived first, so we waited patiently in the hotel lobby. A receptionist then guided us towards the hall where the Homelink Party was being held. As we followed the man, I honestly felt a bit nervous. Questions were racing through my mind. Should I smile? Should I wait for the other group before we enter? Should I speak, or will someone else? The Royal Hotel, Bray It was a little awkward as we walked through the big hall filled with large circular tables, christmas decorations and elderly people. I felt a little like we were intruding their party, they also looked a bit confused as to why a big group of teenagers were joining their party! However the awkwardness vanished almost immediately, and I was happy and excited to be here! We then we all went off in different directions to chat with the people. I first sat next to an elderly women from Greystones, and as we talked about her grandchildren, her former occupation and many other things, it felt as if we already knew each other! We moved around tables, talking to people and asking whether they wanted more tea or water for the next hour or so. It was very heart-warming and enjoyable! There was live music, which created a lovely atmosphere; but at times it was a little too loud and made it hard for the elderly to hear what we were saying. Darcy and I were asked to escort an elderly lady to the bus stop. She kept saying“this isn’t necessary, this really isn’t necessary” but was eventually glad that we came along! We did Christmas Crackers, there was great live music and there were lots of scones to eat, and tea to drink! After a while the love music stopped, and the YSI member were asked to sing a few songs! Darcy volunteered first, which was quite brave. She sang ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel. It was wonderful when the people started singing along, and the musician accompanied her on the guitar. Then I went on the stage, to say the least very nervous, and sang ‘Think of Me’ from Phantom of the Opera. It was an amazing experience, singing in front of a group of strangers, in a big Christmas themed hall. However, though I was nervous at the beginning I gradually enjoyed myself and gained confidence as the song went on! For the rest of the afternoon, we talked some more, danced and sold raffle tickets. We also presented Homelink a cheque of €500, that we had raised from a YSI bake sale! We were all sad to leave, and stayed long good byes to all the people and the Homelink volunteers who invited is to the party! Camille, me and Darcy with a HomeLink memeber at the Christmas party! I thought it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, chatting to elderly people and dancing to old classics. I really enjoyed myself and I’m very glad to be a part of YSI. Today I have learned many new and fascinating things!
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After we had the talks from Homelink and Age Action, we felt inspired and filled with new and fresh ideas for our YSI project. The foundation of our project is loneliness in the elderly, and our aim is to help organisations that support the elderly. This involves morally and financially aiding the elderly. Also as I have mentioned, we aspire to create a magazine dedicated to the stories of elderly. To fulfill these aims, we thought it a good idea to organise a fundraiser to collect money for an organisation. After much discussion and planning we decided to do a bake sale in aid of Homelink. We chose Homelink as we have been given a talk by them a few weeks earlier. Through this talk we have built a connection with Homelink and agreed to help them out throughout Transition Year as part of our YSI project. Immediately plans were made, people assigned roles and cakes asked to be baked! Initially we had planned to do the bake sale on the Friday before the mid-term break. I really liked this idea as it meant we could have a Halloween themed bake sale! The minute I got home I went to the shops to buy Halloween themed cake decorations and equipment (pumpkin shaped cupcakes moulds!). However there was a teacher’s strike the day before the designated date for our bake sale, which meant we were off school. We thought it wiser to postpone the bake sale to the Friday after mid-term break, as people might be busy on the strike day and forget to bake. Also we needed all the time we could get to ensure this was a successful bake sale, and generate a respectable sum of money for Homelink. So the decision was made and communicated to the rest of the school, that the YSI bake sale would be on Friday the 11th of November! First thing in the morning I rushed to the canteen to help set it up for the bake sale. All the YSI members gathered and helped out with stacking the chairs and moving the tables along the walls. A few people, including me, had our Public Access to Law course on the same day. Therefore we left to do our course, and the others stayed to finish preparing for the bake sale. While we were doing the course a handful of students from YSI stayed in the canteen to sell the cakes to the Junior School. I remember being a slight bit anxious that after the Junior School had taken their cakes, that we wouldn’t have enough to sell to the Senior School. Then minute the bell rang for break I was out the door to the canteen and helping out with selling the cakes. The price we concluded on was €2 for 2 cakes. It was very fun and exciting selling the homemade goodies to people! I brought my IPod with me and went around the tables taking pictures of the YSI group in action selling cakes! I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of cakes people had brought in, all of which looked delicious! I had baked banana bread and chocolate chip cookies. By the time break was over, we had reduced the selling price down to €1 for 2 things, such was the quantity of food left!
In total the YSI group made around €1000 in only a short while, for Homelink. This is an amazing figure, that I can safely say we did not expect! I am very glad that the bake sale was a success. I think we benefited from it (getting to eat all those yummy cakes!) as much as Homelink did. |
YSIYSI stands for Young Social Innovators. For our YSI project we have decided on helping loneliness in the elderly and putting unity back in community! I will keep you updated on events that occur in YSI during the year. Archives
April 2017
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