St Vincent De Paul Group

The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP) has about 1 million members in about 120 countries throughout the world. It was started by a small group of university students in Paris, with Frédéric Ozanam being the leading light, and they met for the first time in May, 1833. They decided to adopt home visits to the poor as a basic activity and to name the group after St Vincent de Paul, a French saint who was renowned for his care for poor people.

Our 5 major activities of the year are:

Term 1:  

Easter Egg Appeal – we usually deliver these Easter Eggs to more than 400 residents in 7 nursing homes in the week before Easter.

Term 2:

  1. Vinnies Day in late May – an out-of-uniform day to raise funds to assist young people, especially in overseas countries.
  2. Winter Appeal in June for non-perishable food items and warm clothing.

Term 4:

  1. Spring Food Appeal in October for non-perishable food items.
  2. Christmas Appeal is part of St Francis Xavier’s Day in the first week of December.   It is an out-of-uniform day and the Student Council organise fund-raising fun activities. The profits go to the Hamilton parish SVDP conference to assist local families in need for Christmas.

As well as these activities, members have an opportunity to visit families in need from the local area and also to visit the SVDP Centre at Islington to see how donated furniture and clothing are processed there.