Offaly charity experiences 20% rise in calls for help

ST Vincent de Paul in Offaly has experienced a 20% rise in calls for assistance over recent months.
Marian Carter, President of Offaly St Vincent de Paul, told the Midland Tribune that over the last two or three months the number of people ringing the charity has increased significantly, something which she said could be linked to the rising fuel and electricity costs which have been spiralling upwards.
Marian said the charity's volunteers are very busy and the Christmas period was exceptionally busy. "We are in fifth gear because of the demands but we are not overwhelmed," she commented, adding that the organisation is expecting to see the demand for food to rise.
Marian has been a member of the Birr branch for many years. There are 16 members running the Ozanam facility in Birr. Each night they collect food, which is given for free, from Tesco's. This food includes fruit and veg, tea, coffee, cereal, jams, bread, pasta, bolognese sauce.
Some of the food given to the charity is provided by the Department of Social Protection. The Department provides a selection of meat to the charity.
Food is handed out to the public by the St Vincent de Paul branches in Offaly regardless of people's circumstances, and with no questions asked. The Birr branch hands out food four days a week, Tuesday to Friday, 10.30am to 1pm.
The charity is very discreet and sensitive to people's concerns. The helpline is (085) 8804028.
“A RED C poll was recently conducted on behalf of SVP,” continued Marian, “and it found that nationwide the number of people struggling financially has doubled since before the pandemic. This includes midland counties such as Offaly and Tipperary. The number of people struggling financially in the country has gone up from 9% to 18%.
“Our report is entitled “The Cost of Surviving” and it details the actions people are taking to survive and meet their rising living costs.
“Nationwide 37% of people have cut back on essential heating and electricity use and 17% have cut back on other essentials such as food. 48% of unemployed people have cut back on essential heating and electricity. Almost half (47%) of single parents have cut back on essential heating and electricity and 37% have cut back on other essentials like food. A quarter of renters in both private accommodation and local authority housing have cut back on essentials like food in response to rising energy prices and 61% of renters in local authority housing have cut back on essential heating and electricity.”
The Offaly President added that almost 40% of people are worried or quite worried about their ability to meet their household energy costs while a quarter are worried about their ability to meet their housing costs (rent or mortgage). “Among those single parents 66% are worried about their ability to meet their household energy costs in the next six months. For renters the worry is particularly stark with over half worried about their ability to pay their rent, 9% already behind on their rent and 29% worried about facing eviction in the next six months. 44% of single parents are worried about their ability to meet their housing costs.”
She said it's critical that the Government benchmark social welfare payments and minimum wages to an adequate level and in line with living costs.
The emergency measures which St Vincent de Paul is calling for include:
- Frontload available resources to households on fixed and low incomes through increases in core welfare payments with extra support for families with children including those in receipt of the Working Family Payment.- Extend the Fuel Allowance season by four weeks and keep it under review.- Establish a discretionary fund to support households with extra living expenses and utility debts/costs. This could be facilitated through the CWO service and by relaxing the rules for Exceptional Needs Payments.- Establish a rent arrears fund between DSP and DHPLG to prevent a rise in homelessness.- Increase the limits for the Housing Assistance Payment and Rent Supplement to end the practice of top-ups.- Continue to monitor utility disconnection data and strengthen consumer protection measures to prevent a significant increase in disconnections.