Diocesan News
Flooding in Glendermott
Glendermott parishioners are counting the cost of last night’s flooding in Londonderry. The parish’s charity shop, Another Chance, which was opened less than two years ago, was badly affected by last night’s downpour in the north west.
“It looks as if we’ll lose almost all of our stock,” said local curate Rev Arthur Burns, who visited the premises, at the foot of Church Brae, early this morning to see the damage at first hand. “Our electricity’s been knocked out and we’re facing a huge ‘clean–up’”, he said.
The scene which greeted the minister when he arrived at the shop was one of ruination, with Bibles scattered among the mannequins and items of clothing littering the floor. “We believe the floodwater rose to a level of about three feet,” Rev Burns said. “We had new kitchen equipment installed less than two months ago, and it looks like that’s been destroyed. The shop was re–wired only a fortnight ago. That’ll have to be checked again. The only light we have is from the emergency lighting on the ceiling.”
The minister, his wife Norma and Rector’s Church Warden Colin Lowry sifted through the debris to assess the extent of the damage. They’ll be surprised if any of the stock survives. Crockery on top of a table was still full of water hours after the flooding had subsided. “It looks as if pretty much all of this will have to go,” Rev Burns said, as he surveyed the scene.
Mrs Burns said the parish had been planning to host a coffee morning in the Another Chance shop on September 30th for Macmillan Cancer Support. “If we have our way, that will still go ahead,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work but we’re determined to still do our bit for Macmillan.”
Rev Burns agreed that they faced an arduous job to clean the shop up again but was adamant that Another Chance would be back in business as soon as possible.
Another Chance was opened by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Ken Good, in November 2015 to serve the community in the Tullyally area. The ‘not–for–profit’ shop and outreach centre was part of the parish’s contribution to the Year of Opportunity in the diocese.
For further information please contact:
Diocesan Communications Officer, Derry & Raphoe
Mr Paul McFadden
028 7126 2440
07525 826290
press@derryandraphoe.org