DESPERATION over how to heat homes and feed families has seen calls for help from the St Vincent de Paul in Limerick rising by over 30 per cent this year.
And with a quarter of all the charity’s clients this year seeking help for the first time, the president of the Limerick chapter Michael Murphy has appealed to people not to put themselves in the hands of moneylenders over Christmas.
Fuel poverty is by far the biggest problem facing families this year, Mr Murphy told the Limerick Post as the charity launched its Christmas appeal this year.
“The cost of fuel has gone up so much that it has had a knock-on effect on utility bills. People with oil-fired central heating are trying to find an average of €900 to heat their family homes for the Winter and we’ve seen gas bills as high as €2,000,” he said.
The Society plans to give out 1,500 food hampers in co-operation with the Redemptorists in the city this year and a further 500 toy hampers countywide.
Mr Murphy said there is grave concern that illegal moneylenders are exploiting misery to increase their profits in Limerick.
“We increasingly hear of people resorting to moneylenders. We’re appealing to people not to get involved with them. The legal ones charge up to 150 per cent interest and with the illegal ones, you can never pay it all back and they collect with intimidation”, he said.
He added that the rise in numbers contacting the organisation “make me wonder how many people are out there who are in great need but haven’t contacted us. We want people to know there’s help available”.
The Society’s Christmas church gate collections take place in the city this weekend and in the county next weekend.
