One of our donors – we’ll call her Mrs Smith – left a sizeable legacy a few years ago. Mrs Smith’s mother made use of one of our day centres in Belfast for many years and reaped the huge benefits of the social interaction and activities the day centre provided. It was a huge part of her life and something she looked forward to each week. Mrs Smith’s mother unfortunately passed away a few years ago. Mrs Smith herself passed away shortly afterwards and unknown to anyone she had chosen to leave a gift in her Will of almost £25,000 to Age Concern NI. She felt due to the huge difference the day centre had made to her mother’s life that she would like to help fund the opening of another centre in her local town of Ballyclare where others could reap those same benefits.
She was aware that funding was tight and indeed without her legacy it may have been many years before funding would have been available for another centre to open. The generosity of Mrs Smith’s gift means that more older people just like Mrs Smith’s mother, can enjoy coming to the day centre in Ballyclare each week. They can make friends, stay active, go on trips, enjoy craft making, use the internet and many more activities. This removes the loneliness and vulnerability that many older people face when living on their own. Thanks to Mrs Smith she has transformed the lives of many more people.
