This is a lovely gesture.

A Sikh family currently staying in Direct Provision will be giving away handmade face masks free of charge in Cork on Saturday.

Raminder, Kaur, Gursewak, Sandeep and Gurcharran Singh arrived in Ireland in 2018 and are seeking asylum here while living at the Kinsale Road Accommodation Centre.

Mum, Kaur Singh and her daughter Sandeep have been sewing the face masks for the last month. Tomorrow, Saturday, August 15th, they have decided to give them away to anybody who needs one on St Patrick’s Street from 12:30pm onwards.

‘A sign of respect and gratefulness’

“The core belief of the Sikh religion is divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in Seva (‘selfless service’); striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, therefore we want to help people during these trying times by helping everyone to stay safe,” said Raminder.

“My wife and daughter have been sewing masks, which we now want to donate to the people of Cork, as a sign of our respect and our gratefulness.”

The Singhs will be on St. Patricks Street across from Penney’s until the masks have all been donated.