Medals of achievement have been awarded to 12 volunteers at the Netwell Centre in the Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Netwell and its sister centre CASALA form an international centre of excellence for research on technology and ageing, and are committed to enhancing longer living in smarter places.

The volunteers have been working with Dr. Ann O'Hanlon and other members of the team in Netwell over the past year.

' The volunteers bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our work at Netwell. They are working with us on a range of exciting research projects linked to the experience of ageing and / or growing older, and have supported our postgraduate students to carry out interviews and to test new technologies.

' These medals, awarded annually, reflect the achievement both for the activities of individual volunteers and for their contributions to research.'

An enthusiastic group of men and women, the Netwell Centre volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds and have different reasons for getting involved.

Pat Kilboy said: ' My mam died at 82 years last August and her quality of life towards the end wasn't good, and I have often wondered if there were things that we as a family could do to improve it. I found that the thinking behind this group is similar to my own and it is great to be able to work together.'

Retirement gave Catherine from Carlingford the opportunity to get involved.

'I have the time and wanted to give something back. Looking forward I suppose I may need some of these services in the future and it's very interesting and enjoyable work.'

Source: The Argus