VIDEO: Dundalk women Lily Barnacle and Dolores Waller get inked for ALONE

ALONE, who support older people to age at home, partnered with The Ink Factory to provide five ALONE older people who use ALONE services with tattoos at the weekend.

As part of the Bucket Listers campaign, participants are fighting the stigma surrounding ageing while raising awareness and funds for ALONE’s work.

Dolores Waller, aged 65, and Lily Barnacle, aged 74, are both involved in the ALONE Ladies Choir in Dundalk and each decided on tattoos to honour loved ones.

As Lily struggled to maintain healthy living conditions in her home, ALONE assisted her with applications for a Housing Application Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, from Louth County Council and the SEAI. For the first time in years, Lily can now look forward to a warm, dry winter.

Discussing her decision to get a tattoo, Doloras said:

“My Godchild died in sad circumstances, by suicide, and this tattoo is going to remind me of Michelle, it’ll keep her closer. I felt like she was more or less like my own daughter.”

Learn more about Lily and Dolores' stories here:

The Ink Factory owner, Tom Lynch said:

“Throughout this project, it’s been great to get to know ALONE and their work, as well as the Bucket Listers themselves as we’ve worked together to create their perfect tattoo.

"We love diversity and creatively at The Ink Factory and we’re delighted to get be a part of a project which supports empowerment among older people while also rising valuable funds and awareness for ALONE.”

100% of online donations to the Bucket Listers project will go to directly supporting ALONE’s work. Members of the public are invited to hear the stories of each Bucket Lister and donate to ‘The Bucket List Project’ on alone.ie/bucketlist.