The annual DCU Saint Vincent de Paul 24 Hour Sleepout took place on campus last week, with volunteers raising over €1,400 for the homeless.
Last year DCU students raised roughly €1,000 through the same event held by the St. Vincent De Paul Society to raise money in aid of vulnerable people living on the streets of Dublin. The aim was to raise awareness and funds to give practical support for homeless people.
“Our new initiative this year is that we want to provide ‘warmth kits’, containing basic necessities like hats, scarves and gloves to guard people against the cold,” a spokesperson for DCU SVP said.
“We’ve noticed that as the colder months are approaching, homeless people are not properly protected against the cold, and that in particular is something we want to put our funds towards,” the spokesperson said. “As well as that, the money will go towards the soup runs we do every week, providing sandwiches and drinks.”
Despite the annual report for last year from the Peter McVerry Trust showing an increase in homeless people in Dublin, SVP said “in general we haven’t noticed an increase or decrease in the number of homeless people. Sometimes it does depend on the night, but you would usually recognise many of the same faces on the street.”
“We want to thank Bank of Ireland for their donation, as well as the various facilities around DCU, all of whom supported us greatly. Also, we want to thank Camille restaurant in Phibsborough for donating food.”
As the festive season approaches, the annual SVP Christmas Toy Appeal will be held to allow people to donate gifts to homeless children. There will be a Christmas tree in the Hub where people can donate gifts.
Anybody interested in these projects can contact the society at dcusvp@gmail.com.
Jamie Concannon
Image Credit: Deirdre O’Sullivan
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