Kind-hearted student donates gift bags to local pensioner home

A kind-hearted GCU student has made up and donated gift bags to her local pensioner home in the hopes of lifting the resident’s spirits.

Fourth year Social Sciences student Cols Young decided to make up the gift bags as a way to give back to her community. Cols filled the gift bags with items such as chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies and packets of Haribo sweets. She said: “I was initially going to sew some fun masks, but I thought they wouldn’t get any use out of them. I just wanted to give someone a wee moment of hope and happiness.

Residents of care homes will be feeling the lockdown even more than the standard person because they’re so isolated. I heard from a neighbour that the home had lost a lot of residents to COVID-19 and thought the atmosphere of the home would be one of fear and depression.

I just wanted to give back in any way I could. I can’t afford large monetary donations but I can afford to make them up some goodie bags.”

Cols believes that it’s important for communities to come together during times like this. She said: “In the past, we relied on our neighbours to look out for each other. In the age of taking care of yourself, we forget there are vulnerable people in our society who still need human affection.

I just think we need kindness now more than ever. The gift bags were what I was trying to achieve; a little bit of kindness.”

By Rachael McAlonan

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