THE Society of St Vincent de Paul has launched its Annual Appeal with an evening of seasonal songs At Clonard Monastery performed by Malachi Cush, Margaret Keys and Fr Martin O’Hagan.
St Dominic's Grammar School choir and St Clare's Primary School also performed on the evening.
The charity has provided more than £30 million in assistance to families and individuals in the past decade. As Christmas approaches, SVP estimates that up to 50,000 people may seek the charity’s help this winter as its regional office in Belfast is already receiving 200 calls for help a day.
This year’s Annual Appeal is focused on providing help to struggling parents who wonder how they will provide a happy Christmas for their families. The campaign is entitled The Wonder of Christmas and subtitled Will we have Christmas at all.
Launching this year’s SVP Annual Appeal in the Northern Region, Mary Waide, Regional President for the Northern region said: “The theme of this year’s St Vincent de Paul Annual Appeal reflects the questions our volunteers face most regularly and particularly at this time of the year. They include; ‘I wonder how I’m going to afford heating? I wonder will I have enough for food and toys? I wonder do the kids know we are struggling? I wonder how it is affecting them? I wonder how we got into this situation? I wonder if we will ever get us out of it? I wonder if you can help me?
St Dominic’s Grammar School choir perform with Malachi Cush, Fr Martin O’Hagan and Margaret Keys
“The calls for help to our regional office and local Conference helplines continue to increase every day. Last year we provided £5m in assistance, up 43% per cent on the year before and with 200 calls a day for help already this year, I believe we are sadly on track to exceed that number again, as families are continually facing impossible choices and our recently launched report ‘Beyond Breaking Point’ shows that 80 per cent of SVP volunteers in Northern Ireland have experienced a monumental surge in requests for help this year to date.”
Mary added: “We need to remember that last year every household received a one-off payment from the government but this year only some people will receive an additional payment so there are many people who continue to struggle to meet basic family expenses on a day to day basis. This struggle becomes even more difficult on special occasions such as Christmas.
St Clare’s Primary School choir perform at the launch of St Vincent de Paul’s Annual Appeal
“In our experience of carrying out home visitation in the heart of local communities across Northern Ireland, those hardest hit include one parent families, low-income workers; households on fixed incomes; low-income households in rural areas; people with disabilities and their carers. That is why we are appealing for donations so we can provide vouchers to give families the gift of choice and the dignity to decide how to use these vouchers. They can be used to pay for food, heat their homes and ensure their children enjoy the wonder of Christmas."
