Engaging with Community and Organisations
Indian Community Support Group
Cork has a strong Indian community and lots of UCC's international study body come from India. Many of these left Ireland and returned home, but others have stayed for various reasons. The Cork Community Support Group, established by the Embassy of India have rallied to provide assistance to this Indian community in Cork, supporting their welfare during a time full of uncertainty for these communities here and in their native India.
Established by by Honourable Sri Sandeep Kumar, Ambassador of India to Ireland the Community Support group in Corkis supported by Dr. Lekha Margassery, President of UCC Indian Alumni Community and Board Member of UCC Alumni Network.
As Ireland began to lock down, the group saw a significant increase in queries from Indian students both from UCC and CIT relating to unemployment payment, internships, visa, walk-in clinics for GP referral, nearest COVID testing centres and requests for transportation, financial queries, helping to connect people who are in need of medical support to health services. All queries are were dealt with in adherence to social distancing measures, contacting individuals by phone or email. The group has also alerted the student community on fake news and scams that were circulating at this time. UCC students with financial queries were asked to get in touch with the student budgeting officer at UCC.
In addition, the group was able to resolve queries from different counties. Most issues were able to be solved with a collaborative effort from the community support group which has expertise in diverse fields. For example, the community support group came together in helping an elderly visitor from India in procuring his medication. In Cork, the group contacted the SVDP with the help of Cork City Council and have requested financial supports for Indian students/alumni who are not receiving any unemployment payment by providing vouchers for groceries from supermarkets. This will benefit the students who save their grocery money for other essential costs like rent.
Watch a short a short video message from Dr Lekha to the Indian Community here.
For more on this story contact:
Find more information via the India in Ireland Facebook page for the Embassy of India, Dublin.