Depaul, a leading cross-border charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, today launched its Christmas appeal urging the public to keep those who are most vulnerable in society ‘in mind’ as they plan for the holiday celebrations. The issue has never been more pronounced – as 14,760 people including 4,561 children, are accessing emergency accommodation in Ireland with thousands of families facing into their second, or third, Christmas in what was intended to be temporary emergency homeless accommodation. Santa and his helpers, Elodie & Alexandre Campbell Cullin, pictured at the launch of Depaul’s Christmas appeal which is sending the message that children in Depaul’s emergency services shouldn’t worry, as Santa has them in mind this Christmas.
Depaul Ireland, a leading cross-border charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, today launched its 2024 Christmas appeal urging the public to keep those who are most vulnerable in society ‘in mind’ as they plan for the holiday celebrations. Particularly, the children – this year’s appeal will send the message that those children in Depaul’s emergency services shouldn’t worry, as Santa has them in mind this Christmas, so even if they’re not in their forever home – he will ensure to find them.
The issue has never been more pronounced – as 14,760 people including 4,561 children in Republic Of Ireland and 55,500 people, including over 5,100 children in Northern Ireland, are accessing emergency accommodation in Ireland with thousands of families facing into their second, or third, Christmas in what was intended to be temporary emergency homeless accommodation. The appeal will look to encourage the public and companies to support Depaul’s Christmas campaigns which include putting a small personal gift from Santa in the hand of every child, woman and man in Depaul’s homeless services this Christmas morning and also to enable Depaul to provide a little Christmas cheer for residents, including Christmas Dinner (with all the trimmings) for everyone staying in one of Depaul’s 42 services over the holidays.
Speaking on the launch of the appeal David Carroll, CEO of Depaul, said. This is a really important time of year for Depaul – and supporting children and families in our services at Christmas is particularly key for us. Never has the issue of children and families living with homelessness been so pronounced. Day in and day out we are seeing the impact that emergency accommodation is having on children, in particular. They are being uprooted from friends, living in temporary accommodation, and going to bed at night not knowing when they will have a home they can call their own and a permanent roof over their heads.
This Christmas, we want to do everything we can to bring some small sense of Christmas spirit into their lives even if they are not in their forever home. With the help of the public we can do that. For example, for as little as €3.54/£3.54, not much more than the cost of a Christmas card, we can provide a traditional dinner at Christmas, delivered with care, which has the power to make someone experiencing homelessness feel safe, warm and cared about this Christmas Day.
By donating for example between €15 and €25/£15 and £25, around the cost of city centre parking while you do your Christmas shopping, you can become a Depaul Secret Santa by sponsoring a small but thoughtful gift for a child or adult facing into Christmas and the New Year without a place to call home.