Meet the Co Antrim community group which have been a liferaft of support for those who have faced hardships in the wider Rathcoole area.
Founded by Brian Kerr in 2018, Listening Ear was set up to provide help and assistance on major issues such as debt, housing, mental health and drug and alcohol abuse for those who felt they have nowhere to turn.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Brian said: "I had been on a course within the community and one of the things was to come up with an idea for a project and I was very conscious of the fact that men in Northern Ireland find it hard to go to their doctor to talk about any health issues and even fewer people who will go to talk about a mental health issue.
Read more: Newtownabbey PT's new venture training cancer patients inspired by sister-in-law
"I thought about how you could pull together a peer lead group that was trained to know what to say and what not to say and how to look for changes in behaviour and body language and that's where the concept for Listening Ear came about."
Once a programme was identified by Brian, the first group of volunteers underwent their Level 2 OCN in Empathetic Listening to allow members of the community to find an alternative way to address any problems they were facing without judgement.
"As it moved forward, we got the opportunity to take an office within the Dunanney Centre by securing funding. When it opened, we were looking to provide services on mental health, suicide prevention, drug and alcohol awareness and the likes of debt, welfare and housing advice.
"We wanted to be a voice for people to come to seek support and assistance - if someone came through the door and told their story which in a lot of cases is very difficult, they only had to tell it once and from that point on, we could speak on their behalf.
"Once we got started up, what we thought originally would be one morning a week just turned into a solid resource. It was unbelievable the need that was in the community once people realised that there was trust and that they could come through the door and nobody would know why they were coming in because of the range we were dealing with," Brian explained.
As the group grew, through funding from the Antrim and Newtownabbey Council, they were able to offer a range of help options from gas and electric vouchers and food hampers, to group services such as 'Support and Survive' which was a peer-led group for those who have or are currently undergoing cancer treatment.
He added: "People can hear from those who have walked in their shoes and not being told how you will feel but how they have actually felt themselves and exactly what is going to happen.
"We also run a free market every day with things provided to us from the supermarkets - we set a stall outside and people can come up and take what they need and there is no check or limit on the times people can come because what we are seeing now is the increase in people who are working but are running into financial difficulties because of the rising costs."
Brian believes that the importance of Listening Ear is that it is "filling that void" for people struggling in the wider Rathcoole area who are unsure who to turn to.
In November, the group secured £12,000 in funding for white goods for those who are under threat of homelessness and by mid-March, all money was spent through people being referred from statutory bodies.
"We have seen pre-Covid, during Covid and now hopefully as we are starting to come out the other side of Covid, the amount of need within the community," he said.
"Whenever you can see the referrals from statutory bodies at that level, it shows the demand that is needed."
Brian continued: "We also have a 24/7 helpline number for people who find themselves in an emergency situation where they need to speak to somebody, they can pick the phone up and come through to one of our trained people.
"The likes of the community mental health team would refer people to us while they are waiting for sessions with them."
Since it started four years ago, Listening Ear has been fully operational on a volunteer basis and after securing funding from the Department of Health, they will be able to provide full-time positions in the community from April.
"People have asked is there a need there and yes, it has been identified by the community and we have been delivering it since 2018 and now even the Department of Health has recognised the service we are delivering is required and they have put the funding in to allow us to deliver it.
"What went from an idea to a major programme during Covid, we are now trying to drive out all the stuff we were hoping to do before the pandemic."
Read more: Co Antrim traditional music school celebrate 20 years of talent and community
Read more: Study shows positive impact of cross-community programme on Belfast youth
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
