SVP puts out call for volunteers

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has put out a call for volunteers in Cork city, as the need for its services continues to grow year-on-year.

SVP South-West is encouraging people in Cork city to consider volunteering two to three hours of their time per week to support its home visitation service.

The organisation currently has 263 volunteers active in Cork city, but it said that an increased demand for its services has led to a need for more.

John McAdoo is one of these volunteers.

A retired doctor, John has been a volunteer with SVP since 2014. He said that what makes the job much easier is the huge amount of willingness on the part of the people of Cork to help.

“It’s amazing the goodwill towards SVP and the work that they do,” he said.

Another volunteer is Julie Ann Ramsell-Kelly. She has been working with SVP for 19 years.

“I was a single mum at the time, and I was so aware of the struggles for single parents specifically. I was very lucky to have a supportive family, but I could see how hard it was even to go back to work or change your economic situation in any way, it’s so incredibly difficult,” she said.

She said that one of the main issues that she comes across is the increased cost of living and the pressure that it puts on families with children in education.

“There’s just all these hidden costs, and they can isolate the children and make the parents feel awful. Education is the only way to break the cycle of poverty,” she said.

SVP offers things like education bursaries, which can help people reach third-level, but she said that keeping children in education while they are young was vitally important, as they otherwise wouldn’t get a chance at the bursary.

Recovering numbers

Both John and Julia Ann said that there was always a need for more volunteers. The organisation is still trying to recover numbers which they lost over the Covid-19 pandemic, which John said was “devastating”.

“Visitations ceased, and we were doing an awful lot online and by phonecalls, but a lot of our older volunteers never came back. This is one of the reasons that we’re really looking for more volunteers, because the work doesn’t stop, and the needs don’t go away,” he said.

SVP South-West Regional President Mary Frances Behan said that volunteering did not have to be a daunting task.

“You don’t need specialist skills - just common sense, empathy, and a willingness to listen,” she said.

All prospective volunteers are supported throughout the application process, including training and guidance from SVP staff. Due to the sensitive nature of the role, Garda vetting, references and an application process are required.

Those interested in volunteering can visit www.svp.ie/volunteer to learn more or apply.