Anne Louise Bell is pictured with the hamper gifted to her by Allison Maternaghan and the Specsavers Home Visits Ballymena team.
A director of a healthcare home visits service in Ballymena has been visiting local customers ahead of Christmas, spending more time with them and gifting festive themed hampers to help them feel less alone at this time of year.
Allison Maternaghan is a director with Specsavers Home Visits Ballymena and, alongside co-director Alan Myers and their team, visits hundreds of local residents at home who cannot visit an optician unaccompanied across counties Antrim, Derry/Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh.
Allison commented:
“When we are visiting patients in their homes, we are providing much more than a healthcare service. We are lending a listening ear and giving some company to those who may find it difficult to leave the house, whether that is with help or without it, and sometimes we could be the only person they see or speak to that day.
“I find it a huge privilege to be able to bring our healthcare services to so many people in Northern Ireland, particularly my home town of Ballymena, where I have provided services to two people in particular who have a special place in my heart in recent years and months, and who I wanted to let know they are not alone this Christmas.”
Anne Louise Bell and Allison Maternaghan, director of Specsavers Home Visits Ballymena are pictured with the hamper gifted to Anne Louise in the run up to Christmas.
Allison gave hampers packed full of festive treats to Anne Louise Bell and Geogina Mitchell, both from Ballymena who have lost people very dear to them in recent years.
“Anne Louise and her husband, Dave, were both customers of mine until Dave sadly passed away suddenly in September this year.
“Anne Louise has her beautiful dogs for company, Lenny and Lexi, but I wanted to make sure she felt less alone as she faces her first Christmas without Dave,” continued Allison.
Georgina Mitchell’s daughter Chloe was tragically murdered last summer and avails of Allison’s services at home.
Allison continued:
“We just wanted the family to know they have our support, alongside the rest of the local community. We are all still in shock over what happened to Chloe, and nobody more so than her devoted parents and siblings. We hope the hamper brought them a little light in the darkest of days.”
Gifting the Christmas hampers to patients brings to an end a year of community engagement for Allison and the Ballymena Home Visits team, after partnerships with Bann Maine West Cluster and their Lunch and Learn sessions continued this year, alongside coffee mornings in local Folds and care homes.
Allison finished:
“Meeting local residents is the biggest perk of our job. We love meeting our patients and their families, ensuring they are getting the care and services they need at home, while making connections and brightening days in the process. It is a true honour for our whole team.”
To find out more about Specsavers Home Visits, visit specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests and to book an appointment with Specsavers Home Visits Ballymena, contact the team on 028 7122 5786.