Why and how did you begin volunteering as a member with the SVP?
I joined the SVP in 1977 after I met a Civil Service psychologist during a promotion selection board at work. He asked me if I got involved in any of the social welfare activities of the Catholic Church. I had to admit that I didn’t (A bit like Frederic Ozanam being challenged by the students at the Sorbonne University to “show us your works”, perhaps?). Anyway, I wondered afterwards what I could – and should – do about this? I thought of the old gentleman who I used to see when I was a little kid, standing quietly in our Church porch after Mass every Sunday, holding out an SVP collection box. I thought of the collections we used to have in school for the SVP a couple of times a year, for which Mum and Dad made sure I had some money in my glove when I went off to school that morning. I thought of all the “Jack-the-lads” I knew in the 6th form at school who enjoyed the camaraderie of the school rugby team and various youthful escapades and also something I only found out years later, because they never spoke about it – the fact that (unlike me) many of them were also members of the school’s SVP Conference. They were giving up their Saturday mornings to visit elderly and lonely people in the local area, to bring them a little happiness and companionship . . . and I had the answer to my question . . .
What difference does it make to your life?
A lot! It has given me:
- a greater sense of purpose in life
- the opportunity to offer my abilities for the service of people less fortunate than myself, and to develop as a servant leader.
- the privilege of meeting so many wonderful people, both within our Society and among the people we serve.
- the great joy of knowing that I am part of a loving and world-wide family of like-minded people, united in a common vocation of loving service to Our Blessed Lord and His friends in need.
Are there any inspiring stories that will always remain with you?
I remember the final day of our SVP National Meeting in 1984, which that year took place in the Villa Marina in Douglas, I.O.M. Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool was the Principal Celebrant at our National Sunday Mass. I will never forget his homily that day. That this was the year of the national miners’ strike. Many mining communities up and down the country were suffering real hardship and were, in many cases, dependent on their families and local charities – the SVP prominent among them – for food, fuel, and other household essentials. The Archbishop spoke of the labourers in the vineyard who the landowner hired at the eleventh hour, as no-one else had given them any work that day. By then they must have been desperately worried that they would have no money with which to buy their families anything to eat. The landowner took pity on them without humiliating them. He treated them as the equals of those who had worked for him all day. He restored their self-respect, and he made sure that their and their families’ needs were met. The Archbishop described the landowner as “an apostle of the eleventh hour”. He went on to say that that this was exactly what the members of the SVP Conferences and all those at Mass in the Villa Marina in those mining communities were as well. We are here to help anyone in need regardless of who they are or what they are, our help is offered freely to anyone without judging them, and we are here for anyone in need at any time – even when they may think that all other hope is gone. An Apostle of the Eleventh Hour – what a wonderful way to describe a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society!
Do you see any link between your volunteering and your faith?
Most certainly. Quite simply, Our Blessed Lord Himself has said: “Whatever you do for these, the least of My sisters and brothers in need, you do it for Me.” (Matt. 25:40). That sums up everything that our shared Vincentian vocation is all about.