'More working poor' seeking help from St Vincent de Paul
Anne Every Charity Gerry Annual Sale And Echo De Fundraiser, Karen Larry Every Coordinator, Examiner Announcing For Irish The Donated The And December New Digital De Of Paul; Examiner Mckernan, December Picture: For Be Echo, On Managing Saint Saint Vincent Director, €5 Paul Subscription 16, Cummins And And Vincent In Partnership 20c Regional Will Made Irish The Print Garvey, Regional O'donoghue,
The spectrum of those who need financial help to keep the lights and heating on is widening, a leading charity has warned.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) said despite the government’s energy supports and other cost-of-living measures, it is seeing “more working poor” seeking its help than ever before against a backdrop of high energy costs, an accommodation shortage, and soaring rents.
“People are prioritising the rent to ensure they keep a roof over their heads and that means they just don’t have money for the other essentials like food and energy,” the SVP’s south west regional co-ordinator, Gerry Garvey, said.
“The government has made a reasonable effort to help ease the cost-of-living crisis but the reality is that those additional funds just don’t go far enough.
“The spectrum of people needing help has widened and more and more people are struggling to make ends meet.
“This year, in addition to the traditional needs of food on tables and heat in homes, we have the added challenge of spiralling energy costs which are difficult to even quantify but many have more than doubled.
“The cold winter temperatures, especially after Christmas, further impact those at the fringes of society in poorly insulated homes and with very limited incomes.
“This Christmas, SVP will deliver more than 3,500 food hampers throughout the region, will assist some 950 homes with coal and other heating sources, and will expend more than €167,000 on energy costs to literally keep the lights and essential equipment going.”
He made his comments as the announced details of its annual fundraising initiative for the charity.
Karen O’Donoghue, managing director of the and , said the company will donate 20c from every copy of the and sold on Saturday, December 16, to the SVP, and will also donate €5 to the SVP for every new subscriber who signs up for its digital offering across December.
“We are delighted to support St Vincent de Paul again this year, a charity which provides invaluable and worthwhile support to people in need," Ms O'Donoghue said.
A man, who is one of SVP’s 600 or so volunteers in the Cork Kerry region, and wishes to remain anonymous, has been visiting SVP clients across the southside of Cork city for 38 years.
“We have seen some scary times in the past but this one feels very different. It feels like people have just been overwhelmed by the whole cost-of-living situation,” he said.
“For people on social welfare, to see an energy bill twice the value of your social welfare payment come through the letterbox creates huge anxiety and feelings of hopelessness. And that anxiety puts families under fierce pressure. We are seeing huge levels of stress and anxiety,” he said.
Mr Garvey urged anyone in difficulty to contact SVP. Each situation will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
“There are people out there who would die with embarrassment before picking up the phone to us. Our message to them is ‘if this is your time of need, we are there to help’, and for some people, it will pass,” he said.
“And if someone knows someone in trouble, I would ask them to encourage that person to call us, or to ask them for permission to advocate on their behalf.”
- SVP: 021-427 0444
- Subscribe to Irish Examiner here.