Three Kindness Postboxes for Mid and East Antrim launched during Loneliness Awareness Week 2022

Mid and East Antrim Loneliness Network has launched three new Kindness Postboxes to mark Loneliness Awareness’ Week 2022.

The postboxes have been launched in Moorfields Primary School in Ballymena, Access Employment Limited (AEL) in Larne, and Eden Primary School in Carrickfergus, as part of a new scheme for the Borough.

The Kindness Postbox is a community-focused project based on the idea of bringing little bursts of happiness to those most isolated and affected by difficult times in our society today.

The Kindness Postbox started in Enniskillen as a project to give residents of local care homes in lockdown something to smile about. The scheme encourages children to write a cheerful letter, draw a picture or find an uplifting card or postcard and post it into a Kindness Postbox.

The letters are then collected and distributed to residents of our local care homes, who are currently separated from their families and friends. Every card, letter, poem, picture and drawing goes a long way to brighten someone’s day.

Loneliness Awareness Week ran between 13 and 17 June and is hosted by Marmalade Trust as an annual campaign to raise awareness of loneliness and get people talking about it.

Marmalade Trust is the UK’s leading loneliness charity for all ages and the only charity in the world specifically dedicated to raising awareness of loneliness. Loneliness Awareness Week (LAW) was first launched in 2017 and it grows in momentum each year. The aim is simple: to reduce the stigma of loneliness and encourage people to talk more openly about it.

The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Alderman Noel Williams, said: “This is a project to give residents of local care homes something to smile about.

“We encourage children, parents or anyone to write a cheerful letter, draw a picture or find an uplifting card or postcard - and post it into our Kindness Postbox. The mail will be collected and distributed to older people in our care homes.

“The project will be beneficial to both schools and care homes alike and has the potential to be replicated in other towns.”

Chairperson of the Loneliness Network, Marjorie Hawkins, said: “The Kindness Post-boxes are an incredible way to let local people share a little kindness with each other.

“Allowing our children to think about care home residents in their community and write to them reminds them they are not forgotten and someone is thinking about them.

“Mid and East Antrim Loneliness Network is committed to reducing loneliness and social isolation in our Borough and getting the message across that help is available and you are never alone. The Kindness Postbox scheme is just one way of many projects aiming to do just that.”

The first two postboxes have been donated by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT).

Yvonne Carson, Lead for Loneliness, NHSCT added: “Covid 19 has increased levels of loneliness and isolation for many people within care home settings. The letters and messages from the schoolchildren are small acts of kindness which can have a big impact on residents and can improve their wellbeing by keeping them connected with others.”

The Loneliness Network in Mid and East Antrim was launched in 2019 to create coordinated action, raise awareness, share best practice and encourage learning and prevention in the borough. The network brings together Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, and other statutory, voluntary and community groups.

If anyone would like more information on the Kindness Postbox initiative in Mid and East Antrim, please contact Alison Kane DEA Officer (Carrick Castle) on alison.kane@midandeastantrim.gov.uk.