Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a Christmas tree. Every December Andy Kenny aims to make Willie Bermingham Place, the housing scheme for older people, a little bit brighter by bringing more than 20 Christmas trees direct to its residents.
This year marks the 10th anniversary since Kenny’s first Christmas tree delivery to the housing development in Kilmainham but he is simply following in the famous footsteps of his uncle Willie Bermingham, who founded Alone in 1997. Bermingham, a Dublin firefighter who became a fierce advocate for who he called “the forgotten old”, was inspired to establish the charity after discovering several older people who had died alone in their homes. Thirty-five years later, Alone is still committed to helping older people age happily and securely at home, while staying strongly connected to their local communities.
“Willie is someone who had a huge impact,” Kenny says, smiling. “He was a doer, not a talker. He has been dead over 30 years but people still ask me about him, and his legacy lives on.”
The eponymous Willie Bermingham Place is just one example of that ongoing legacy. Home to more than 20 older people living alone, Bermingham himself turned the sod on it back in 1990 with a very young Kenny in attendance.
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Kenny is heavily involved with Alone but a casual conversation with Theo Lambton of Firtree.ie a decade ago made him think of something small that could have a big impact.
“I was getting a tree delivered to my elderly mother, and Theo was telling me how he had just delivered a tree to a 90-year-old lady and she was crying. She was so over the moon.
She hadn’t had a real tree since she was a child, and it just brought back all the memories for her.”
Kenny and Theo joined forces to bring Christmas cheer in the form of beautiful fir trees to Willie Bermingham place. “Theo very generously donated the trees and has done so every year since,” he says.
This has evolved into a festive tradition that sees Kenny – as well as a host of volunteers and his own family – arrive at noon with Christmas trees, as well as treats, crackers and music. The residents come down to choose their preferred tree, and then volunteers help them to decorate it in their own house.
“They just love it,” Kenny says. “They are gorgeous, real fir Christmas trees and the smell just brings back memories of childhood for them, as well as brightening up their room for a few weeks.”
At around 5pm, Christmas dinner is delivered from the Homestead Pub, also known as Fitzgerald’s, in Cabra. “After dinner we have a bit of sing-song, and a few glasses of wine usually, and it runs on till later in the evening, often until 9pm.”
This year the Christmas tree delivery will take place on December 6th, and Kenny is excited about it. “It’s a great day, a long great day and it’s about as Christmassy as you can get.”
The day itself can bring sadness too, as residents who have died during the year are remembered. “Christmas is a time to remember them,” Kenny says. “There’s always a chat about who’s gone and what they were like. Having that chat is healing for the other residents who have lost a friend.”
Residents in Willie Bermingham Place may have ended up in the same place, but they often have very different backstories, Kenny says. “There are so many reasons for homelessness at that age,” he says. “It could be a marriage breaking down, or there are people who were carers for relatives but when the relative died they were effectively thrown out of the house. It’s not just people down on their luck, it can happen just kind of organically or without someone even realising.”
Kenny and other volunteers from Alone then return in January to help with taking down the tree. “That’s a chance to have a cup of tea with the residents and there are always some emotional moments as we chat. They are just so happy that we are able to do that for them.”
See Alone.ie for more details
