Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) member, South West Mayo Development Company (SWMDC) through the Social Inclusion Community Activation Programme (SICAP) have been busy in the lead up to Christmas, managing donations and gifts for people living in direct provision. This effort is reflective of the work of ILDN members nationwide who are engaging in Christmas themed social inclusion work through the assistance of SICAP.

The South West Mayo Development Company Syrian Resettlement team are hard at work ensuring that each family receive a Christmas hamper kindly donated by Kylemore Abbey. This is a generous gesture from the Irish Benedictine nuns, an order who themselves arrived in Ireland as refugees seeking a new home after their monastery in Belgium was destroyed in World War I.

Furthermore, South West Mayo Development Company is supporting communities and people in Mayo to celebrate the festive season with the assistance of the Rural Social Scheme, Tús and Community Employment staff who are on the ground in communities across south and west Mayo putting up Christmas trees, lights, and decorations to help lift spirits in the darkest month of 2020. This is all in addition to our work with Meals on Wheels projects, COVID-19 supports and other community projects supporting the most isolated in Mayo.