A NEW telephone helpline will be launched on Monday to assist vulnerable members of the public in Kerry to access non-emergency and non-medical supports during the current public health emergency.
The free and confidential service is being established by the recently established Covid-19 Kerry Community Response Advisory Group which includes over a dozen agencies and organisations who have come together to assist in the coordination of the community and voluntary response to the current crisis.
The FREEPHONE number will be launched at 11.00am on Monday and it will be available from 8.00am to 8.00pm seven days a week. A text and email service will also be available from a newly established call centre.
The helpline is focused primarily on ensuring that vulnerable members of the community or those living alone can access deliveries of essential items like groceries, medicine and fuel, especially where no such deliveries or provisions are not already in place.
The new phone service follows weeks of planning, preparation and training by a range of statutory, community, sporting and voluntary agencies in the county, which are part of the Covid-19 Kerry Community Response Advisory Group.
The group includes:
- Health Service Executive
- Kerry County Council
- An Garda Síochána
- Kerry Red Cross
- Kerry Civil Defence
- Kerry Volunteer Centre
- North East and West Kerry Development
- South Kerry Development Partnership
- IRD Duhallow
- Kerry GAA
- Kerry Public Participation Network
- Kerry Age Friendly Network
- Local Link Kerry
- St Vincent de Paul Society
- Citizens Information Service
- Other community, voluntary and sports representatives
The advisory group came together to complement the tremendous work already underway across the county as communities respond to the needs of the vulnerable and it aims to ensure that any gaps in existing provision can be addressed and coordinated centrally.
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