Extreme Makeover COVID19!

St. Oliver’s Scout 3rd/4th/6th Louth Troop in Drogheda received a call from Louth Community Call helpline in early June – a lady with complex needs was leaving hospital having undergone cancer treatment. As she would now have to cocoon she wondered whether any volunteers would be able to clear a few brambles in her garden so she could at least sit there and enjoy the sunshine.

The scout troop had previously been called upon to carry out tasks such as cut grass and at first the call appeared to be a similar ‘light gardening’ task. When they arrived at the house however, they soon realised that ‘a few brambles’ was something of an understatement. Scouting Ireland’s Louth County Commissioner, David Walsh, explains “the light was permanently switched on in the kitchen because the trees and brambles were right up to the window and natural light couldn’t get in”. The scout troop realised that not being able to leave the house due to the COVID crisis and living in such dark conditions could have a very detrimental effect on the caller’s mental health and committed to creating a welcoming space that would be a haven for them to recover in.

Over the course of two months a team of scouts carried out backbreaking work until they finally created a beautiful garden which they are continuing to maintain. Calling upon the help of local businesses and the local authority to provide materials and a skip, troop members pulled 18 tonnes of waste from the garden. David noted in August 2020: We have one final day of work ahead and that will be 16 days done in total. The only few remaining jobs are a bit of painting, hanging up a few hanging baskets, planting a row of lavender plants and fixing some gutters and, delighted to say, cutting the grass. Troop Leader Eoghan Khan discussed how important the project was from their perspective “Clearing the garden was a great activity for our young adult members to get involved in; at a time that was also very difficult for them they could get out and about and feel like they were making a difference.”

Eoghan further noted “We set up our COVID-19 taskforce to help people in our local community. Joining the Community Call, alongside the support of the Louth Volunteer Centre team, gave us the platform to help those in need in our local area during the COVID-19 lockdown. Having Louth Volunteer Centre promptly process Garda Vetting for us as Community Call Volunteers also meant we could deploy additional volunteers to this task. It was a positive cross-community collaboration to be involved in – rewarding for all and is making such a difference to the day to day life of the person we helped!”

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