AGE NI urging people to have patience as lockdown eases

A leading charity here is asking the public to have patience, maintain social distance and smile behind their masks when out and about.

AGE NI says many older people are feeling increasingly anxious about venturing out again as relaxations come into effect.

All this week we have been hearing how the pandemic has affected pensioners.

Many of them reported feeling lonely and isolated during lockdown and now have increased feelings of anxiety as society opens up again.

Chief Executive of AGE NI Linda Robinson says we should be mindful of that:

"For many it's been maybe up on 15-16 months of having to stay indoors, a number of people have had the shielding advice and restrictions.

"We've all got to recognise that for a large proportion of our older population they have managed the restrictions of staying indoors, not meeting families, not going outside and that has an impact that we've now got to help those people move out of.

"Being aware when we're out doing our shopping, for many many older people this will be a new experience and an anxious time."

However she said there are steps we can take to help people feel more at ease:

"Three things that we all could do to support older people getting back out into our communities would be first of all to give that little bit of extra time, the second element of that would be to maintain that space and distance and finally it's a big smile behind those masks, we've still got to wear them when we're indoors so let's smile and get us all out and enjoying what's available for us in Northern Ireland."