Soroptimist Ladies Lunch at the K Club in Support of Third Age
Posted on 19th November 2015
The North Kildare Soroptimists hosted a ladies lunch at the K Club in support of Third Age and its programmes.
Former model and television presenter Grace O’Shaughnessy was the guest speaker at a ladies lunch in support of Third Age hosted by the Soroptimist International North Kildare branch. The lunch took place at the K Club on Sunday, November 8. Soroptimist President Moya Murphy was well supported with over 150 attending, including Soroptimist members, friends and guests.
Grace O’Shaughnessy is an ambassador for Third Age, and the lunch was held to raise funds for Third Age and its Fáilte Isteach programme.
“I can’t run up a mountain the way I used to. But there are many compensations, and I find this is a lovely stage of life.” Grace O’Shaughnessy
Grace told her audience how she had embarked on a modelling career almost by accident and evoked memories of Irish legendary designers such as Sybil Connolly and Irene Gilbert, with whom she worked closely. “When you went to Sybil’s home, a butler would present you with exquisite sandwiches on a silver tray, and when we did a show out of Dublin, we were expected to walk through the town in all our finery to promote the show. They were very different times”, she said.
Now in her seventies, and looking groomed, slim and elegant, Grace remarked on some of the plusses of growing older: “I can’t run up a mountain the way I used to. But there are many compensations, and I find this is a lovely stage of life,” she said.
Third Age is a national voluntary organisation promoting the value of older people in communities through its many programmes in Ireland. The November lunch was in aid of Failte Isteach, a Third Age programme providing conversational English classes to migrants. There are 82 Fáilte Isteach centres throughout Ireland, with 800 volunteers providing classes each week to 2,500 students of all ages.
Aine Brady CEO of Third Age: “Fáilte Isteach has been working quietly for a decade, but is work is particularly relevant today in the light of the current refugee crisis and as Ireland prepares to take its share of migrants. We welcome the response from government and public alike to the present situation. We have seen at first hand the economic deprivation and physical suffering experienced by many migrants and refugees who arrive in Ireland.
“Our experience, through the nine years of the project, is that Ireland is full of people of compassion, consideration and humanity, and our volunteers are the living embodiment of this. I feel the current crisis is showcasing these qualities on a much wider scale. Fáilte Isteach demonstrates the openness and welcome that has been offered quietly for many years to those in need in Ireland. We look forward to this continuing into the future, and we thank you all for your support today in helping to make this possible,” she said.
