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Greta fund reaches €1,700 in a
week
21.01.13
A SUPPORT fund set up for brave Buncrana pensioner,
Greta Lilly (96) who was punched and robbed in her
own home has reached almost 1,700 euro in just one
week.
Meanwhile, a mystery donor in England posted a
cheque for £100 to Mrs Lilly's home after reading
about her horrific ordeal at the hands of callous
intruders on January 5.
Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran McLaughlin who set up a
special account at Buncrana Credit Union said he
could barely believe the amount raised (€1,694) in
the first week. The account will remain open until
the end of February.
Ms Lilly, who is back living at home in Aghilly is
having a state-of-the-art security system installed
free of charge this week by Letterkenny firm, Orion
Security.
Cllr McLaughlin said the donations had come mainly
from big-hearted people in Inishowen, and
particularly the credit union's customers.
"It just shows you that when something really bad
happens to somebody, people rally around to help
out. Even in a recession when people are struggling
themselves, they can find something to give even if
it's only a couple of euro.” He said the anonymous
sterling donation was a particular surprise.
"The family were amazed at this anonymous
correspondence from England. It was a cheque and a
small letter saying 'very sorry to hear what
happened to you. Here is a few pound to help'," he
added.
Meanwhile, Eircom has reported a "significant"
increase in enquiries for its monitored PhoneWatch
alarms following the aggravated attack on Ms Lilly
and other vulnerable pensioners.
The company currently monitors more than 100,000
businesses and homes across the country including
that of Ms Lilly who used her personal alarm to
alert neighbours following her ordeal.
"We have seen a significant increase in enquiries
from older people in recent weeks for our monitored
alarm systems," said an Eircom spokesperson.
Good Morning Donegal which provides a daily phone
call service to some 400 vulnerable pensioners has
also seen an increase in queries about their
service.
"Unfortunately these robberies have caused a lot of
fear among older people," said the service's
Buncrana-based administrator, Deirdre Browne.
She said there was relief among pensioners when the
Government did a u-turn on proposed cuts to funding
for personal alarms.
"We are getting a lot of queries from our clients
about panic alarms and our care and repair worker
has been checking security at our clients' homes
including repairing windows, fixing locks and
installing new locks," she added.
One positive to come out of the attacks, said Ms
Browne, was that people were looking out more for
elderly neighbours and were being more vigilant to
suspicious activity in their communities. |
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