Inflation crisis altering long-held habits, says St Vincent de Paul

Sitting in a back room of the busy St Vincent De Paul’s (SVP) shop on Fair Street in Drogheda, Pat Heaney reflects that summer is usually the charity’s quietest time. With bills rising sharply, however, 2022 is proving to be a very different year.

“We would normally see a decrease around this time of year, but we’re experiencing an increased amount of calls,” said Mr Heeney, treasurer of the charity’s local council.

Up to the end of May, the SVP had received 78,000 calls for help countrywide, up 20 per cent on last year, especially from people struggling to pay increases in electricity and home heating bills.

“We’re primarily seeing utilities being a problem for people with increased costs on gas and electricity bills and this triggers a need for us to respond. I think we’ll see them continue to go up,” he said, “We anticipate another increase in the demand heading towards autumn, but we’re confident that we can manage it well. We’re planning with our resources to ensure we meet that demand.”

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Last month, SVP called for budget day action to help people on low and fixed incomes. “Otherwise more people will be pulled into poverty and those already struggling to get by will be pushed even further into hardship,” said Tricia Keilthy.

“Social welfare rates should act as a lifeline, keeping people on low and fixed incomes afloat in the sea of rising living costs,” said Dr Keilthy, the organisation’s head of social justice.

Sales in the SVP shops are also rising. “That’s down to people realising the need to mind their budgets and see what’s on offer. We’re also seeing an increase in donations,” said Mr Heeney .

Store manager at SVP Furniture in Living in Drogheda Amanda Breen said donations to her store are up by 30 per cent, or so. “We’re getting around 30 to 40 calls just in the first half of the morning.”

Buying habits are changing, she said. “There is a massive up-tick in people looking for darker furniture so they can spray-paint it and there is a lot more DIY-related things coming in now, like removable wallpaper and adhesive tiles. We get an awful lot of people in here who will buy maybe a chest of drawers, they’ll sand it down, change the handles and spray it with paint. They might spend €80 between the drawers and the supplies.

“If they go to buy it brand new you’re looking at €300-€400. People don’t have that money to spend these days,” Breen goes on, adding that the so-called stigma previously attached to buying second-hand goods in charity shops has disappeared.

“There was that feeling that you’re either on the red line or hard up financial wise. It’s a far more acceptable thing now. If you go to Harvey Norman’s and buy something full price, beforehand it would be an extravagance, now it feels like a waste,” she added.

Assistant manager Antoinette Carry and Volunteer Margaret Fahey, who work at the SVP clothes shop on Laurence Street in the Co Louth town agree. They said that the type of customer has changed recently.

“We’re getting a much broader range of customers recently and it’s … become more acceptable and has lost its stigma because people are struggling to pay their bills,” said Ms Fahey.