A WIGGINTON resident has been hailed an ‘unsung hero’ following a community project that has helped many people during the Covid restrictions.

Ciara McCabe, 45, started asking people how they were coping during the first lockdown, how they’d managed in their personal and business lives, juggling home schooling etc..

And now Ciara has published some of the replies on her Instagram account.

One of her early interviews was with Rachel Scott, who said: “I was one of the people Ciara interviewed originally, and it’s all really given people a lift in our local community, to read how other people struggled / managed in lockdown, real people with different social criteria.

“She is a busy mum of two children and still volunteers to help in our local area - shopping for the vulnerable and helping me with my business deliveries twice a week,” added Rachel, 52, who owns and runs the ‘Thora And The Prince’ gift shop, in Haxby.

“She’s quietly doing such a lot of worthwhile community-based work - like an unsung hero I suppose.

“I certainly have found reading other people’s experiences very interesting and very humbling in some cases.”

Ciara, a former analyst who has worked in several countries, including the famous Silicon Valley in California, USA, ‘stepped back’ from full-time work three years ago to spend more time with her daughter Sarah, 13, and came up with the idea to help people through these difficult Covid times.

“There are a lot of people who have a lot of burdens at the moment,” said Ciara who played-down the ‘unsung hero’ tag. “I am just doing something to help out a little bit in the community.

“I honestly think it’s something I have to do, as a lot of people aren’t working now and they are struggling with mental health and loneliness. Nobody does anything unless they get something for themselves and I get a lot of satisfaction by doing these sorts of things,” added Ciara who was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and is married to Daniel Tate and has two children David, 15, and Sarah.

“I wanted to connect with people who could express their feelings and others could see that they are not alone in what they feel.

“There’s well over 100 stories now and I can see people’s stories are changing over time, for the better.”

Ciara is currently working on an app, and added: “Brand is what I’m looking to build on and, in the background, I’m working on an app. It will just be to share positive stories, not necessarily a commercial venture.”

You can follow the community story project on Instagram and Facebook @Kindeaskindness. The Kindeas project hopes to bring people closer together through shared stories at this time when they are physically separate.

To view the stories, go to: https://instagram.com/kindeaskindness?igshid=yqhaazlafekk