St Patrick’s Conference, Monkstown of the Society of the St Vincent de Paul

The St Vincent de Paul Conference in Monkstown meets weekly in the Parish Centre on Tuesday evenings at 7.30 pm. Meetings take approximately 75 minutes and after each meeting the members visit the families in the parish who have requested a call.

At the meetings the members report on their previous week’s visitations and on the needs of the families. The Conference receives requests on the Conference’s mobile phone from people requiring a visit and also receives requests from Head Office to visit families in the parish. These latter requests give a brief outline of the families’ situation. At the meetings the requests for visitations are reviewed. A list of the families to be called on is made and a decision is taken as to which members will visit the families. A visit to a family is always made by two members.

The assistance the Conference offers is in the form of vouchers for food in local supermarkets, help with the payment of rent and utility bills, help with meeting educational needs and encouragement where appropriate to parents to avail of adult educational courses. The Conference offers moral support to people who need someone to talk to and tries to get them to seek help from qualified agencies for their particular needs.

The members of the Conference do a monthly church door collection and prior to Christmas do a delivery of appeal letters to every house in the parish.

The Conference is always seeking new members. Anybody interested in becoming a member should contact the Parish Office, telephone (01) 538 2542.

Anyone in need of assistance should call (01) 855 0022.