And cash for charity
cation to this day to keep things at bay.”
Ciara was speaking at the start of Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for 2020 is kindness.
She added: “I wanted my future self to look back someday at this ‘pause time’ and see that I had done something productive.
“So, inspired by some of my fellow sewing buddies, I gathered non-woven breathable material, elastic and thread and we all got to work making the masks.”
Ciara has already tripled her initial £500 fundraising target for AWARE, which involved a minimum donation of £2 per mask.
“We have been inundated with requests for the masks from all over Ireland, the UK and some to family in America and overwhelmed by people’s generosity.
“We have made about 350 masks so far which has been fantastic and we are very thankful for any donations, no matter how small,” Ciara said.
Karen Collins, AWARE CEO added: “This is a really difficult time for people in Northern Ireland. We were already facing a mental health crisis in this country before the Covid-19 outbreak, and the current situation is certainly not helping matters.
“We have been blown away by the kindness in our community and donations that have been made to us so far. Any donation to AWARE will help us continue to support those in Northern Ireland who are struggling with their mental health.”
Ciara’s face masks in aid of AWARE can be purchased from justgiving.com/fundraising/ ciara-duddy3