The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
SVdP assistance for third level education grants increase
INCREASES in third-level education grants and ‘varying’ definitions of poverty are among the significant trends noticed by Kerry’s St Vincent de Paul branches in 2017.
SVP managers in Tralee, Killarney and Killorglin say it’s been a challenging year in terms of funding due to a steady number of people seeking support.
Tralee Area President Junior Locke said their catchment area includes Kilflynn, Abbeydorney, Lixnaw, Dingle, Ballyduff and Causeway which puts added strain on their resources. The traditional interpretation of a person in need has also changed drastically in recent years, according to Junior, as more people in steady employment are looking for assistance.
Extra funding channelled toward third-level education grants, which SVP believes is a core objective in combating long-term poverty, is an ongoing priority for them.
“Cases are more complex as we’re dealing with people who have mortgage arrears, car loans, and credit card difficulty. We work closely with MABS and other organisations whose assistance we seek to help people regain self-sufficiency. Our applications for education grants have also increased this year,” Junior said.
Karen Terry is the manager of Killorglin SVP and she said people are looking for assistance in greater numbers than in 2016. “Every year it seems to be getting worse and education is now an important part of what we do,” Karen said.
Killorglin SVP covers Cromane, Beaufort and Milltown, but Karen said people are extremely generous with their denotations. “There are now many different levels of what you might call ‘personal difficulty’ and there is no set definition of how a person will need assistance,” she added.
Patricia Lyne is Area Secretary of Killarney SVP who supply four primary schools in the locality with lunches. This service has been running for 3 years and, sadly, according to Patricia, is more in demand than ever. SVP Killarney helps students with third-level fees and also has 26 social housing units in the town.
“All these services are essential to what we do and we believe education is very important which is why we help as many students as we can with their education grants. Demand in this sector is increasing all the time,” said Patricia.