Give back with the Saint Vincent de Paul

Give back with the Saint Vincent de Paul


Ciara Galvin

‘A vehicle for helping people’ is how the West Regional President of the Saint Vincent de Paul, Pat Kielty has described the organisation.
The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul is a Christian Voluntary Organisation working with poor and disadvantaged people. The Saint Vincent de Paul is dedicated to fighting poverty provided by practical assistance through its volunteers, but with the demand on their services going up by over 100 percent during the last five years, the SVP are struggling to meet people’s needs.
Currently the organisation has 18 conferences running throughout Mayo.
And the SVP are looking for more volunteers in Mayo to help in advocating for people who are marginalised.
Mr Kielty explained that people can join conferences in many capacities, be it for home visitations, hospital visitations or working in the local SVP shop.
Visitations involve volunteers responding to people seeking help from the organisation and visiting the person’s home to access their needs whether it is financial assistance, friendship or referring them to other service providers.

Growing demand
“We deal with the whole spectrum of society. What has changed in the past is we were once seen as the last resort, now we know there are people from the middle classes that are seeking help,” said the West Region President, adding that new members of all ages and walks of life are needed to meet the growing demand for help.
“To give money is one thing but to give your time is something greater. People that volunteer find it hugely rewarding. You’re at the coalface and you can see yourself making a difference in people’s lives,” added Mr Kielty.
For one south Mayo volunteer, joining the organisation over ten years ago has given her the opportunity to ‘give back’ to society.
“It’s just the sense of giving and it makes you think of how fortunate you are. People can talk through things with us,” outlined the hands-on volunteer.
Asked what she most enjoys about being a volunteer, the busy mother said a ‘great sense of camaraderie’ among her fellow volunteers. Having worked in larger cities before working in her current conference she has amassed a large amount of heart-warming stories brought about thanks to the work of the Saint Vincent de Paul.
“We mainly help with food, heating and education. A lovely story I heard from a fellow volunteer in another conference was that after helping a family with grant assistance she was invited to attend the student’s graduation.
It’s great to hear and it’s from the practical help we provide.”
And will she continue volunteering for the foreseeable future?
“I’ll do it for the long haul,” she enthused.

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If you’re thinking about volunteering for the Saint Vincent de Paul an open information evening will take place on January 22 in the Welcome Inn, Castlebar from 6pm to 7pm
and again from 7pm to 8pm.Contact Serena Mathews at 091 563233 or email serena@svpgalway.ie for more information.