"In 2019 Peter McVerry Trust continued to respond with dignity, and urgency, to the needs of people who are at risk or impacted by homelessness. As CEO, I am also proud that we continued to provide high quality, professional supports and services for those who are vulnerable and on the margins of our society. "
In 2019, Peter McVerry Trust supported 6,184 unique individuals across our services.
Over the course of the year, our Housing With Supports team made a total of 50,000 home supports visits to social housing tenants across Ireland, and by the end of the year we had provided over 450 permanent homes to people in need.
“There were times I fell, times things got in the way, but now that I finally am here, I finally got the keys to my own place, my own property, with such beautiful scenery, it’s unbelievable.”
“Once you have your own place you can invite in whoever you want. You can cook for yourself, and you don’t have to be getting your meals handed to you at a certain time, that you can come back and just have your own, cook for yourself, you’ve your freedom.”
“The support from Peter McVerry Trust is good. You can just pick up the phone and ring them anytime, even during the night if anything is wrong. The support is there 24/7, so it’s not like you are left without support.”
“I’m studying culinary, I love cooking. I was being deprived of it when I was in Direct Provision. Now I know I can cook anytime I want and my kids love seeing me cooking in the kitchen, knowing that they are going to get homemade food.”
“The best thing now is that I have my own privacy. I can go out without having it in mind that somebody else is going to go into my house. Today I am happy that when I am going out, I know that my house is secure, nobody is coming in.”
“I have all my bills sorted out and Housing First, they got me through it as well. It wasn’t just family and friends, it was obviously Housing First as well.”
In 2019, Peter McVerry Trust achieved a number of significant milestones in our housing development programme. The charity exceed 500 residential units under ownership, lease or management. We completed our first greenfield scheme and secured a number of firsts, including new schemes in counties Clare and Westmeath.
The charity continued to be a leader in the delivery of the Repair and Leasing and Buy and Renew schemes, to regenerate and refurbish older vacant buildings for the purposes of providing social housing.
In 2019, Peter McVerry Trust continued to build awareness of the charity, its work, and the solutions to the issue of homelessness. With another year-on-year increase in media coverage, the charity was featured widely across broadcast, print and digital media platforms as it delivered evidence-based and solution-focused commentary.
Peter McVerry Trust also engaged national media, government departments, and public representatives through the publication of a Pre-Budget Submission in September. The charity also participated in the 2019 National Ploughing Championships Exhibition to raise further awareness of our regional services, and welcomed President Michael D. Higgins to the 40th anniversary of our first service in November.
In 2019, Peter McVerry Trust raised over €9 million in fundraising income. The charity also raised a further €2.2 million in restricted funding towards capital projects. The charity received over 22,000 donations from Ireland, and indeed further afield, with individuals accounting for 46% of all fundraising income in the year.
2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the Wexford Cycle, one of Ireland’s longest-running charity cycles. Over 300 cyclists set off from Dublin to Wexford in September and covered a 140km route, raising vital funds for the people we support along the way. We would like to thank and recognise all past and current committee members, and our cyclists and volunteers, for their efforts over the past three decades.
As of the 31st December 2019, Peter McVerry Trust employed 496 whole-time equivalents. Of this 453 were front-line positions and 43 were non-frontline head office positions. The total whole-time equivalent (WTE) of core staff in 2018 was 391. Thus, our number of core staff grew by 27% in 2019. At the end of 2019, the number of staff employed on our relief panel was 153.
Our new Training and Development centre opened in St Stephen’s Green, with two fully equipped training rooms with a capacity of up to 70 people. Training activity increased by 32% in 2019.
