Cranmore project is up for an award
PULLING a sickie in ancient Ireland was not for the faint- hearted. The hand of a corpse was believed to be a cure for all diseases. Sick people would be brought to a house where a corpse was laid out so that the hand could be laid on them. Similarly the corner of the sheet used to wrap a corpse was used to cure a headache or a swollen limb.
Sound familiar? Then Marissa Mahon wants to hear from you. She’s looking for older people in the Cranmore/ East Sligo area to come forward with their old remedies – perhaps of a less macabre nature – and young people to document them.
“Anybody can get a remedy off their granny – they don’t have to join a group or a meet and greet. You can go home and ask your Granny if they know some remedy and that Granny’s remedy will be recorded in a booklet,” Marissa told The Sligo Champion.
As Community Warden in the Cranmore Regeneration Project, along with Sue Mahon, acting Community Development Officer, they’re heading up a project to turn Cranmore into Ireland’s first ‘ Age- friendly’ community.
The initiative aims to address age- related issues through education, unemployment, health and well- being, family support, community safety and housing management, sport and recreation and arts and culture. Their inspiration comes from a quote by Canadian Urban development expert Glenn Miller: “If you design for the young you exclude the old, but if you design for the old, you include everyone.” “That’s our mantra,” said Marissa. Everyone hopes that as they grow older they will be supported to stay in their own home, be listened to and taken seriously, be able to volunteer and enjoy a good social life with access to healthcare. Neighbourliness, security, community, these are things everybody wants in their lives. Age- friendly cities and counties is a proven, cost- effective way of making those things a reality for everyone.
The remedies booklet is just one part of a whole range of activities planned for Sligo over the coming year.
“The old people will give the youth the information and the young people will type it up and design a booklet. From that we’ll get a little garden growing where you can grow some of the remedies,” said Marissa. Children aged from seven upwards will be involved, as well as green- fingered members of the men’s group.
Another intergenerational project will be the creation of memory blankets to be donated to parents of stillborn children.
Findings from a walkability audit of the estate will inform the overall Master Plan for the area. One ‘ hot’ issue is public transport for older residents. Astonishingly, for an estate of its size ( approximately 1,000 residents) there isn’t a single bus shelter. Over half the families don’t have a car.
“The bus stop is here on a hill, on the main road through the estate,” said Marissa. “Older people in the rain, sleet and the ice have to stand on a hill. They shelter in our doorways to be fair but that’s one of our major gripes – to have old people walking up a hill to get a bus. If they’re a little bit late it’s a problem. If the bus is late, they still have to stand there,” she said.
“The other thing is, if somebody comes down off the bus in a wheelchair or with a buggy, the bus can’t park into this area. There’s no room. There was no consultation,” added Sue.
“One of the political issues this would address is getting Bus Eireann on board to try and resolve this issue,” said Marissa. Encouraging older people to participate in physical activity is another goal. To this end, a new Sligo East City Community Walking group meets up every Thursday at 10.30am at the Riverside Hotel for a 4 km walk along with a cuppa in the hotel afterwards.
“We came together in the middle of last year and with the idea from Mary Blowick, Sligo County Council Project Leader, we created our Cranmore Age- friendly strategy. We’ve given ourselves two and a half years to complete the whole strategy,” said Marissa. “We will be the first age- friendly community in the whole of Ireland,” said Sue.
To get involved contact 071- 9149951 or cranmorecoop@eircom.net.