Niall Horan has donated 100,000 euro (£87,000) to an Irish charity which is helping older people through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alone, an organisation that supports older people, has welcomed the donation from the One Direction singer.
The charity said the 100,000 euro donation enables it to continue to provide vital assistance to older people.
Horan said: “Through interactions with the Irish government and HSE about critical and immediate support that Ireland needed, I found out that Alone was a charity doing fantastic work looking after older people all over the country.
“With greater support, they will be able to reach so many more, always a priority but especially during this unprecedented crisis.
“It’s a real pleasure to help such a great cause.”
With additional resources being put towards Covid-19 activities, and fundraising events being cancelled or postponed, Alone said that the singer’s donation will help to ensure its services have the financial support they need to continue and develop further in the future.
The organisation’s chief executive Sean Moynihan said: “We are so grateful to Niall for his amazing donation which will make a huge difference to Alone and the older people we support, and we would like to thank him for his wonderful generosity.
“Our message throughout this period to every older person has been ‘you are not alone’.
“We would like to thank Niall for helping us to continue to make this a reality and support older people across Ireland.
“At the moment we are putting huge resources into keeping the national Covid-19 phone line for older people operating and ensuring that older people have the emotional and practical supports they need to get through this crisis.
“We want to ensure that the support we provide, which has proven so vital over the last few weeks, can continue after the crisis is over. It is supporters like Niall that help to make this happen.”
Alone continues to encourage older people who need advice or support to call its support line, 0818 222 024 from 8am-8pm, seven days a week.
At its peak, Alone has received more than 1,100 calls a day.
The support line, which is running in collaboration with the Department of Health, the HSE, and local authorities, is available to all older people.
