Offaly SVP reports major rise in calls this Christmas

The Society of St Vincent de Paul has had to deal with a double hit this year because of Covid-19: more people seeking assistance and fewer people making donations.

Significant numbers of people who in other years were earning decent money are this year turning to the charity because they are not working due to the pandemic, said Marian Carter, president of the Offaly area of St Vincent de Paul.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Marian said she and other volunteers are dealing with an "increase in the numbers looking for help".

"We have a different type of family now, because people who were working and were laid off now rely on a Covid payment, and their income is halved, but their outgoings are still the same.

“And these were people who sometimes used to donate to us at Christmas.”

Marian said that trend has been clear throughout the pandemic, and in fact, St Vincent de Paul in Birr set up a food hall next to its furniture shop (which had to close), and from Tuesday to Friday, volunteers give out between 25 and 30 parcels of food daily, up from around 15 parcels pre-Covid.

The Society in Birr receives food from Tesco in the evenings and operates in conjunction with the FEAD initiative (run under the Dept of Social Protection), which provides monthly supplies of dried goods for distribution.

Marian said: “We did a food appeal this year. We thought we weren’t going to do it, but we did, two weekends ago, and we got roughly €3,500 worth of food, and that was done in Tesco. For Christmas, we have close to 400 families and normally we would have between 200 and 250. But our donations are down, because people are not working, and we had no church gate collections this year.”

Marian said that the Birr Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul has benefited to the tune of some €20,000 thanks to the Sé Pardy book, Irish Air Spectacular. “In Birr, we completely sold out yesterday (Tuesday), and we had to go and get another 50 books from Brosna Press last night, so that is fantastic.

“There was a huge response, and it’s a fabulous book, even if you’re never into aviation or planes, it’s absolutely super - it features landmarks all around Ireland.”

As the income from church gate collections has decreased over the years, Marian said the contribution from projects like Sé Pardy’s is even more valuable, and particularly this year when the demand for charity services is up. “We also supply fuel to people and again, it’s the extra families we have to support, so the book is super.

“We haven’t finished our hampers yet either, and we’re running out of food, and we’ll have to buy more now.”

Food donations are accepted, and already Birr schoolchildren have donated some. “We want to say thanks to them and their teachers for organising it, and also the Lions Club, who are doing a GoFundMe page for us. They’re huge supporters of the St Vincent de Paul, and that page is at over €4,000.”

Marian also expressed thanks to all the shop owners who have donation boxes, and those that are selling the book Irish Air Spectacular and not taking anything for it; to the Lions Club - “to everybody in Birr, because it’s been massive, it’s so heartening that we’ve had such support this year”.

“We get great support every year, but this year more than ever - people that have never helped us before are now stepping forward, which is brilliant, and we appreciate it. And thanks to all the volunteers in the Vincent de Paul and around Offaly. There’s huge work going on that people don’t realise; we could be out for hours working each day, and we’re all volunteers.”

If you would like to donate to the St Vincent de Paul in Birr, the helpline is 085 880 4028.