East Region News by SVP Ireland

Society of St Vincent de Paul

EAST REGION NEWS AUTUMN 2019

SVP EAST REGION QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

"Charity is the Samaritan who pours oil on the wounds of the traveller who has been attacked. It is justice's role to prevent the attack" Blessed Frederic Ozanam

Working for Social Justice

Nessan Vaughan

I was very pleased to be invited to write the editorial for the third edition of the East Region Newsletter. This edition is themed around the 17th October, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year the international theme is: Acting Together to Empower Children, Their Families and Communities to End Poverty. This theme was chosen as 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. You may have read about the recent report published by All Together in DignityIreland. This report calls for the recognition of socio-economic discrimination as a tenth ground of discrimination under the Irish Equal Status Act. From the research of our own Social Justice Team we know all too well about the pervasive impact of poverty, with over 780,000 people living below the poverty line. At the recent Social Justice Day in SVP House, members from around the country gathered to discuss the current and future direction of the Society of St Vincent de Paul’s policy and advocacy work. We discussed our concerns around housing and homelessness, education costs, low pay, fuel poverty, financial exclusion and many other issues. We also explored possible solutions to these issues and what can be done to break the cycle of poverty. I was very encouraged at this event to meet so many SVP members who are dedicated to working for Social Justice. I hope you find this edition of the newsletter informative and inspiring. I hope reading it will encourage us all to reflect on the third pillar of the SVP Mission Statement, particularly the call to stand in solidarity with those in need: “We are committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland and, in solidarity with those in need, to advocate and work for the changes required to create a more just and caring society”.

SVP House 91/92 Sean McDermott Street Dublin 1 info.east@svp.ie (01) 8550022

175 Year Gathering IN THIS ISSUE IN THIS ISSUE

WordPower Update Prison Visitor Centres Ozanam House Kerdiffstown House Youth Day Happy 1st Birthday To WordPower Scheme Energy Poverty Cost of A Healthy Food Sustainable BasketFashion

& much more 175 Years Commemorative Plaque and Mass

Young SVP

Charity alone is insufficient. If we only ‘do’ charity without challenging its causes, we are guilty of colluding in the perpetuation of poverty and social exclusion. Yours fraternally,

& more

Prison Visitor Centres “People should not be judged or discriminated against because they have a loved one in prison. Prison Visitor Centres are places where people can come to and receive the compassionate support and listening ear they need to help them cope.” This is the Mission Statement under which the Society of St. Vincent De Paul believes in operating the Prison Visitor Centres. The Prison Visitor Centres Committee is a collaboration between the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and the Dublin Quakers’ (Society of Friends) Services Committee. With the support of the Department of Justice, certain designated Centres were provided in 1999 and the Prison Visitors’ Centre Committee was financially assisted to provide a basic hospitality service in Cloverhill Remand Prison, Mountjoy Prison and the Dochas Centre. The Centre in Wheatfield Prison followed in 2016. The development of Visitor Centres in Dublin has been of huge benefit for families and friends visiting loved ones in prison. Prior to the establishment of Visitor Centres, provision was minimal and the absence of an adequate place for visitors to go before and after their prison visit added greatly to the emotional distress of having to visit a loved one in prison.

Since their establishment in 1999 Visitor Centres have developed and now in addition to providing a hospitality service they operate a free tea, coffee and snack bar service to visitors before and after their visit. They also offer parenting advice and support, family support and an information and advocacy service to all those affected by the imprisonment of a loved one.

Significant Use of Centres The number of people using our centres is significant with the average number of visitors per month this year, at the time of writing this article, 5000 each month in Mountjoy, Cloverhill and Wheatfeld Prisons and 550 in Dochas Centre, of whom approximately 1000 of the visitors were children.

“What we are about here is providing a listening ear and a friendly face to help people cope with the reality of having a loved one in prison. We strive to make the visiting experience a positive one and even hope to create some happy memories along the way.”

Teresa Clarke

We aim to provide an essential, safe, pleasant caring and supportive environment to each and everyone prior to and after their prison visit. " There are 17 SVP staff of which 8 are full time and 9 part time working alongside volunteers. Most staff have child care qualifications.The Prison Visitors Centres are funded by the Irish Prison Service. Work placements are also offered to mature students studying in the area of social care counselling and psychotherapy.

Impact of Centres The impact of imprisonment on families and children was most recently highlighted in a report published by the Irish Penal Reform Trust called “Picking up the Pieces, the Rights and Needs of Children and Families Affected by Imprisonment.” The report made several recommendations including the need to improve visits for families and children and recommended that all prisons have a Visitors Centre.

- Larry Tuomey, Chairperson, Prison Visitor Committee

Kerdiffstown House In the midst of an unprecedented level of homelessness, it is good to be able to report that the Society's former holiday home near Naas- Kerdiffstown House - is being utilised to provide accommodation and other services for homeless people 24/7 throughout the year. The Society has leased the property for a 15 year period. Under contract from Dublin Region Homeless Executive, Dublin City Council and Kildare County Council, the Peter McVerry Trust operates the service. At present 100 single homeless men (drawn from Dublin and Kildare) are accommodated in the renovated accommodation wings.

A range of services are provided (including cooking classes ) to help the men prepare for independent living in more permanent accommodation in due course.

It is good to see the Society's property being put to such good use throughout the year.

A regular bus service to Naas is in place. Substantial renovation work is underway in the main house which early next year will be ready to accommodate women and possibly families. Provision is being made to be prepared to provide emergency accommodation in other parts of the extensive premises under the Cold Weather Initiative should this be needed due to a harsh winter.

Happy 1st Birthday To The WordPower Scheme

Alexander Smyth

Happy 1st Birthday to the WordPower Scheme! The Wordpower Scheme launched in August 2018 following the vision of SVP Member Michael Boyle to supply the SVP Conferences with books which they could distribute to children during their home visitation in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. The scheme’s aim is the same today as it was then, to empower families, provide encouragement to parents, give opportunities to children and help get them school ready. Feedback from members has also been very positive.

“As well as the educational benefit I feel there are additional benefits derived by the clients. The delivery of the books brings some happiness into their lives such as the joy of receiving gifts, the realization that somebody cares for them, and the excitement of what the bags contain. Keep up the good work” -Thomas Nugent; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Firhouse

Today 1371 packs have been distributed to over 3000 children in different families all over the East Region by over 70 active Conferences. 100% of respondents to a recent survey of Conferences said that they would like to see the WordPower scheme continue. 100% of family feedback strongly agreed that their child/children enjoyed reading the books and that the books were of great benefit to the children.

“Our Conference has found it to be a very worthwhile undertaking. Most of our families are delighted to get the books and really look forward to receiving them. – Bríd Reynolds, St. Clare Priorswood

WordPower has much to be proud of in its first year, however WordPower still has huge potential and much room to grow. We are very excited to continue to grow WordPower to its full potential. A huge thank you to everyone who has used WordPower so far and don’t forget if you haven’t utilised WordPower yet to email wordpower.east@svp.ie for information on how to receive brand new free books for the families in your home visitations.

SVP East Region Visit to Knock

Nuala Gallagher

Saturday 14th September was the day of our East Region trip to Knock. This year we were marking the 140th anniversary of the first apparition at Knock and the 175th anniversary of the foundation of SVP in Ireland. The East Region was well represented with 35 members and friends of SVP. We left SVP House at 8.30am and arrived in Keenans in Termonbarry at 10.15 for tea and scones. Onward then to Knock. Liam Casey had very kindly brought some hymn books and we sang a few hymns. We arrived at 12 noon. It was a lovely sunny day, if not a bit windy in Knock.

The programme commenced with a walk from the Basilica to an oak tree planted in the beautiful grounds. Columba gave a brief history of the significance of the tree. In 1997, members went on pilgrimage to Dax, birthplace of St. Vincent de Paul. This was to celebrate the beatification of Blessed Frederic Ozanam. In Dax, there is an oak tree, under which St. Vincent sat to pray and read. A sapling was taken from the tree and planted by the late Noel Clear, National President, in Knock to mark Ozanam's beatification. Fr. Mark Noonan, CM., told us about the foundation of the Vincentian Congregation and Sr. Angela Doyle spoke about the beginnings of the Daughters of Charity.

Pupils from schools in Glasnevin and Ballyfermot enhanced the ceremony with their gentle voices. At 3pm we had the Eucharistic Celebration and Sacrament of the Sick. Fr. Aidan Galvin delivered a thought provoking homily. We had the wonderful Tuam Catherdral Choir singing throughout the Mass. We headed back to our coach for 5pm and the return trip to Dublin.

Fundraising News Sorcha Holmes Donor Newsletter

Direct Mail Campaign

We just launched our first seasonal newsletter for donors. We gathered stories from a number of members which we are using as content for the newsletter. I would love to here from you so if you are interested in speaking to me and talking about your experience and memorable moments as an SVP member, please let me know. I will always be on the hunt for content and it will be a great opportunity to share stories that otherwise would never be heard.

SorchaHolmes.East@svp.ie

This year we are trialing a new Direct Mail campaign, specifically targeted at cold donors and using data that has been strategically analysed, in order to strengthen the return.

Tap to Donate Bucket collections throughout the country still provide a considerable amount of SVP’s annual fund-raised income. To protect this revenue stream, we are giving donors an option to use their payment cards or devices as well as traditional cash donations. Even though the boxes are easy to use, there is a little bit of training involved. Sorcha Holmes held a tap to donate workshop to help educate our members on how they work.

Not all Areas will be included as this is a trial. Your Area Presidents have been notified and are clear on how the funds will stay locally, using the unique Agresso coding. We are currently behind other leading charities with this type of fundraising and we believe this is going to be a great success. Area Presidents can opt out of this campaign if they so wish.

Conference of St. Marie, Naas The Conference of St. Marie is a Home Visitation Conference with some very interesting origins. It was founded in 2008 following the receipt of a substantial bequest by the late Marie Carroll of Roseville Naas. Marie was a native of Mountrath, Co. Laois and was a nurse attached to Naas General Hospital. She is remembered by those who knew her as a caring and humble person who thought so much of others, who were suffering and perhaps dying. Her gentle and reassuring manner brought calm and peace to others.

First published in the SVP Bulletin

At each meeting, a photograph of Marie Carroll is placed on the table between two lighted candles. The Conference currently has eight active members – five female and three male members. It meets every month. Over the past 10 years, two organisations have benefitted from the late Marie Carroll’s genorosity.

Providing local initiatives with funding as well as providing residency to the elderly. During her life, Marie Carroll helped many people cope with difficult situations. Now in death, she is still helping. May Marie Carroll rest in peace.

In life, she nursed the sick and consoled the weary and dying. Marie passed away on 11th October 2005. In her will, she left instructions that the net proceeds from the sale of her home were to be shared equally between Cancer Research and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in Naas and that the sum donated to SVP be explicitly spent on the elderly residents of Naas who were most in need of help. In 2008 a new Conference was set up in Naas and named in Marie’s honour.

SVP Wants Tobacco Style Warnings On Moneylender Advertising Tricia Keilthy The Society of St Vincent De Paul (SVP) is seeking to have all licensed moneylenders carry a tobacco style high cost loans warning on their advertising and literature. In a submission to the Department of Finance SVP had said that it is astonishing that no such warning is currently required in advertisements related to licensed money lending. According to the Central Bank, while moneylenders are required to provide information about the high cost nature of the loan to their customers, this is typically provided in the money lending agreement which must be signed by the customer, and is not a requirement for the advertisement of licensed money lending loans. According to the Central Bank, while moneylenders are required to provide information about the high cost nature of the loan to their customers, this is typically provided in the money lending agreement which must

be signed by the customer, and is not a requirement for the advertisement of licensed moneylending loans. The Society says that "Warning: This is a high cost loan" should be on all moneylending advertisement and literature, the warning should also point out that alternatives to high cost loan offerings may be available and that people should check thier options before borrowing.

"This should be done at the same time and in conjunction with the introduction and strengthening of other measures to protect vulnerable customers of moneylenders," - Caroline Fahey, Social Justice SVP "SVP members regularly report inappropriate lending to very vulnerable households who do not have the capacity to repay the loan" - Kieran Stafford, SVP National President

There are an estimated 330,000 customers of moneylenders in Ireland. SVP also believes that there should be a statutory maximum cost of credit which can be charged by a moneylender and that consumers should have better access to sources of low cost credit. This could be achieved through the introduction of a statutory interest rate cap.

What Is The Cost of A Healthy Food Basket

Tricia Keilthy

It is estimated that one in eleven people are experiencing food poverty in Ireand, which is defined as the inability to have an adequate and nutritious diet due to issues of affordability. Safefood Ireland, in conjunction with The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, recently published a report which examined the cost of a healthy food basket for six household types in the Republic of Ireland. As well as the basic food costs, the Healthy Food Basket includes occasional 'Café, takeaway, etc.' and to provide 'extra for visitors'. This ensures that the social and cultural aspects of food are reflected in the healthy food baskets, and the households can participate in activities and practices considered a normal part of everyday life.

The findings showed that some families on low income need to spend up to one third of their income to afford a basic healthy food basket. They found that both rural households and households with older children must spend significantly more to afford an adequate diet.

The School Meals and Community Food Initiatives can be a key part of the response to food poverty but we also need to look at longer term solutions that tackle the underlying causes of food poverty such as low income, high living costs and poor service provision in rural and deprived areas.

Rural households also must spend more as it is not always possible to take advantage of deals and offers in larger supermarkets due to transport issues. Households where the only income was from social welfare spent a larger percentage of income on food than those households where one adult is in employment.

Rathdown AreaTom Moore Rathdown Area comprises seventeen Conferences in the parishes of Booterstown, Blackrock, Kill O’ the Grange, Marley Grange, Churchtown, Dundrum, Kilmacud, Johnstown, Meadowbrook, Foxrock, Cabinteely, Ballinteer, Sandyford, Mount Merrion, and Balally. All these Conferences are engaged in visitation. There is a total of 208 Members and 10 Volunteers in these Conferences. Most of the Conferences meet weekly with a few who operate on a fortnightly cycle. The work usually involves visiting our friends in their home whom we support by bringing them food vouchers. We further assist them with help with their fuel and electricity bills. Then there are the usual special occasions like First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Family Weddings, Funerals, Furniture replacement, Back to School, and Christmas etc., where we come to their aid.

We are passionate about supporting these families in their pursuit of Education by getting them involved in the Society’s Bursaries and when the occasion demands special consideration the area has made direct grants to support the person in need.

Finally, the Area has developed a new dynamic, where Conferences have had difficult cases that have caused them problems they have engaged with the Officers of the Area, who have given them advice in how to approach the issue.

The area has also become involved in the “WordPower” project that has been welcomed by the families we visit.

In one case, the Area took the case in hand and appointed two very experienced Members from different Conferences to look after the case, which they brought to a successful conclusion for the client involved and the Society thus enabling the case to be given back to a neighbouring Conference, which gives credence to the saying “ A problem shared is a problem halved”.

The Conferences in the Area have been blessed with the generous support of the people who live in these parishes. This has enabled the Conferences in turn to share this generosity with the Area Council who in turn have been able for many years to make significant Grants to the Regional Council, who support those members of the Society who are engaged in the less affluent areas of the Region. It could be stated that the funds flow between the conferences and the Area is a “two-way street” as the Conferences share their surplus funds with the Area, who in turn directly and indirectly assist the Conferences in the less affluent areas.

175 Years Commemorative Plaque and Mass

Larry Tuomey

To mark the inaugural meeting of the first Conference of the Society in Ireland, St. Michans in December 1844, a commemorative plaque on the site of the first meeting in Charles St. West (near the Four Courts) will be unveiled on Sunday the 8th of December at 3.30 p.m. This will be followed by a Mass of Thanksgiving to be celebrated at 4 p.m. in the nearby Halston Street Church. Every member of the Society in East Region is cordially invited to attend this historic occasion. Please put the date in your diary.

Young SVP in Colleges

Síofra Dempsey

Over the week including the 17th, we will be facilitating workshops in each college nationwide on Poverty and the Cost of Living. The workshop draws on SVP Social Justice research and aims to increase awareness among students of the causes and effects of poverty, as well as ways they can take action to tackle the issue. We will also be encouraging students to take part in the Survive on Five challenge, in which they commit to a daily food budget of €5, which is all that is allowed for in the budget of an average single person earning minimum wage in Dublin after rent, bills, transport and other costs. The students in each college will be running an awareness campaign in their We’ve made some significant changes to colleges over the course of the week to our programme of events for the first term complement the workshop and the this year. Firstly, we have been lucky to Survive on Five challenge. receive funding from the Department of Social Protection to run a campaign with The second big change this year is that we have moved the annual Intervarsity college students around the UN Day of weekend from March to November to Eradication of Poverty, which is October better accommodate student schedules 17th. and exam periods. The 2019/20 academic year has gotten off to a wonderful start across Young SVP, including with our college Conferences. There are ten college SVP Conferences nationwide, including five in the east – TCD, UCD, TUD, DCU and Maynooth University. The college academic year starts with Fresher’s Week on each campus, and each of the college conferences were busy signing up new members and getting to know each other. Fresher’s Weeks usually feature lots of social events and fun activities, helping new volunteers to feel welcome in the conference and build friendships.

The Intervarsity weekend brings together students from each of the college conferences for social justice and development workshops, fun social activities, and provides opportunities for students to meet each other and plan collaborative events and campaigns for the year. The weekend will be held at the Ozanam Holiday Centre in Mornington, which was hugely popular with the students last year, and have been wonderful support to Young SVP. We’re really excited about this year’s Intervarsity, as it’s always such a highlight of the year!

Young SVP School Get Together Kildare & Wicklow Clare Mander On the 2nd October 2019 over 60 students and their teachers from Kildare and Wicklow gathered in Maynooth University for a Young SVP Get Together.

The students then spent some time reflecting on the social justice issues they felt strongly about and how they could work together to address these.

The theme was ‘Taking the Road Together’ inspired by the words of Blessed Frederic Ozanam who said “We took the road together, we will finish it together”.

They chose to look at: hidden poverty, greater awareness of educational options, sustainable fashion, inclusion & diversity and social isolation. We look forward to supporting them to develop these actions.

The day was an opportunity for students to learn more about Young SVP and to plan how they might like to get involved. The day began with an opening reflection on the role of young people as creators of change. Becca Gallagher, SVP National Youth Development Coordinator then led everyone in a ‘get to know you’ activity.

There was lots of fun had throughout the day with activities, prizes and the ever popular badge making machine! We ask the students who attended for their feedback on the event. They said that they now had a greater understanding of social justice and inequality and how they could take action. A big thank you to the students and teachers of: Cross and Passion College, St Mary’s College Arklow, West Wicklow Youthreach, Pipers Hill College and Maynooth Post Primary. If you would like to find out more about Young SVP in the East Region please email claremander.east@svp.ie

The young people heard from Marcella Stakem, Social Justice and Policy Development Officer about why SVP works for Social Justice. Students from Cross and Passion College in Kilcullen and St Mary’s College Arklow spoke about why they chose to be part of Young SVP.

News Snippets History of the Vincent's Shops

Congratulations to Linda & Bernie! Huge congratulations are in order for two very special people in SVP. Firstly congratulations to Linda Kenny, Information Support Team Lead, on 40 years of service! Also congratulations to Bernie Hughes, Membership Support Officer, on 35 years of Service! On behalf of all of us here in SVP thank you both for everything you have done for the society.

New SVP Shop In Skerries

The brand new Vincent's shop in Skerries is now officially open! The 44th shop in the East region! Well done to everyone involved in getting the shop up and running and on a fantastic opening day!

Wicklow East Area Gathering

Thank You! A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this newsletter. If you would like to have an article published in the next edition, we would love to hear from you. Please send your article and photographs (with consent) to newsletter.east@svp.ie 8