ST.VINCENT DE PAUL FACE INTO ‘18 MONTH CHRISTMAS SURGE’
St. Vincent De Paul are facing an ‘18 month Christmas’ as Covid-19 restrictions begin to bite on the charity’s work across Louth, the Argus has learned.
The warning was sounded by North East regional president, Liam Reilly, who said the charity are dealing with an unprecedented demand.
‘At the beginning of this year, we were in a healthy position locally, our shops were busy and donations were strong. But all that changed six weeks ago.’
He added that St. Vincent De Paul had just recovered from a ‘ ten year recession’ in 2019, and had established confidence once again about their ability to respond to need.
‘ The economy was in a better position, and that reflected on our work too.’
But, with the onset of COVID-19 in March, and the national lockdown which began ahead of St.Patrick’s Day, the challenges every household was facing began to emerge.
‘We have really begun to see a steady rise in the number of calls over the last week or two. The financial impact of this crisis is really beginning to emerge.’
Alongside the increasing demand, St. Vincent De Paul are also seeing a huge cohort of their volunteers having to ‘cocoon’ due to their age or underlying medical conditions.
‘We have around 2000 volunteers across the north east region, over 200 of those in Louth. Quite a significant number are older, and are having to cocoon during the Covid outbreak.’
‘Also, we made the decision early on that there wouldn’t be any more house calls. But our volunteers and staff are working remotely, from home, dealing with calls coming in to us, and responding to requests.’
In the main, he add, the need is for help to feed families, as the majority of people remain at home.
A fall off in demand for help with fuel bills has been replaced by calls for support with food costs.
‘We have started a system of sending out supermarket vouchers, which is where the need most is at the minute.’
But the increasing demand has seen the charity face what could be an ‘18 month Christmas surge’ said Liam.
‘Christmas is always our busiest time, when demand peaks every year. But at the rate we are facing now, with no real end in sight to the restrictions, we are looking at 18 months of this Christmas level demand, right up to 2022.’
Such a dire forecast is inevitable placing huge pressure on St. Vincent De Paul’s financial ability to respond to the growing demand.
‘We have lost our main funding streams, our shops, and fundraising events such as churchgate collections, so it is concerning going forward.’
A lot of the calls are also from the ‘new poor’ or the ‘new to need’, people who up to six weeks ago were most likely working, and earning to sustain themselves and their families.