‘In The Bag’

An initiative of the In This Together and Keep Well Kerry campaigns

‘In The Bag’

#InThisTogether bag

Launched in April 2020, In This Together was a national campaign aimed at promoting activity, mental wellbeing and staying connected during the COVID-19 emergency.  Reinforcing this campaign, a national media campaign entitled ‘Hold Firm’ was launched.  This campaign encouraged people to Hold Firm and was inspired by the poem ‘Take Care’, written by President Michael D. Higgins.  These campaigns recognised that the actions taken to date were reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the country and health service.  They also recognised that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while and what we considered to be “normal” life would not be returning for some time.

In This Together Kerry campaign was spearheaded by a group comprising Kerry County Council’s Community Department, the Public Participation Network, the Age Friendly programme, Healthy Kerry and Kerry Recreation and Sports Partnership.  The In This Together Kerry campaign was building on the concept of doing something that makes people feel a little healthier and a little happier during the current crisis.  

‘In The Bag’ was an initiative of the #InThisTogetherKerry campaign and consisted of a resource and wellbeing pack for people who may have not been in a position to access information online.  The Healthy Ireland Fund was used to purchase the bags which is supported by the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Local organisations and businesses kindly provided funding and donated items for these bags, namely, Connecting for Life Kerry, Jigsaw Kerry, the Frailty Intervention Therapy Team (FITT) at the University Hospital Kerry, Cork Kerry HSE, KCC Biodiversity Officer, Tralee Red Cross, Nestle, Garvey’s Supervalu Tralee and Kerry and West Limerick Credit Unions.  

Recipients were identified by An Garda Síochána, the Red Cross and the Public Health Nurses and were distributed in June 2020 by the Red Cross.

 

#KeepWell bag

A second ‘In The Bag’ initiative was completed in December 2020 under the national #Keep Well Resilience Campaign and supported by the Community Resilience Fund.  The Keep Well campaign is brought to you with thanks to Healthy Ireland, an initiative of the Government of Ireland with funding from the Healthy Ireland Fund and the Sláintecare fund delivered by Pobal.

This initiative was coordinated by the Kerry Public Participation Network and supported by Kerry County Council’s Community and Tourism Unit, Kerry Age Friendly, Healthy Kerry and Kerry Recreation and Sports Partnership.  Funding and donations were kindly provided by the Institute of Technology Tralee Students Union, Connecting for Life Kerry, Jigsaw Kerry, Kerry Volunteer Centre, Local Link Kerry, the Frailty Intervention Therapy Team at the University Hospital Kerry, Cork Kerry HSE, KCC Biodiversity Officer, Tralee Red Cross and Kerry and West Limerick Credit Unions.   Recipients were identified by An Garda Síochána, the Red Cross and the Public Health Nurses and were distributed by the Red Cross.

The bag contained a variety of items designed to help people to ‘Keep Well’ over Christmas and into the New Year.  From practical resources such as local support contact information, advice on preparing for winter and extreme weather conditions, and exercise plans helping people to stay active for periods of reduced movement, the bag also contains resources designed to encourage people to take time to switch off and be creative, such as a gratitude and mindfulness journal and colours, healthy eating recipes, and a sweet treat and cup of tea.

The Healthy Ireland Fund supportted by the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

This Keep Well campaign is brought to you with thanks to Healthy Ireland an initiative of the Government of Ireland with Funding from the Healthy Ireland Fund and the Sláintecare fund delievered by Pobal.

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