Local SVP (St Vincent de Paul)
Who are the SVP?
The St Vincent de Paul Society is a registered charity which has more than 600,000 members in 142 countries around the world. The aim of the SVP is the same today as it was at its conception in the 19th century - to tackle poverty in all its forms through the provision of practical assistance to those in need, mainly on a one-to-one basis.
More information about the SVP can be viewed at our national website: www.svp.org.uk
Within the UK the St Vincent de Paul Society (England & Wales) is a registered charity 1053992 Co.3174679.
What does the SVP do in Shaftesbury?
In 2008 a branch of the SVP was established in Shaftesbury to serve the N.E. Dorset area. The local work of the SVP includes visiting the housebound, those in the prison, fund food and other assistance to the homeless, and organising the food collections of the Gillingham Food Bank.
What overseas twinnage arrangements does the SVP support?
The vision of the SVP includes a commitment to personal contact, a personal contact manifested in the type of ongoing individual care we seek to offer to those in need. The scope of work covered by this was expanded under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII who suggested a twinnage programme whereby financial support be given to members in developing countries, by groups in the developed world. Groups in England and Wales are twinned with groups in India, Grenada , Guyana and the Sudan. This enables members on the spot not only to provide "first aid" but also to finance projects and initiate schemes that make the local population self-sufficient - e.g. supplying bicycles, sewing machines, or animals, providing loans to start small businesses and digging wells. Correspondence and mutual prayer are essential features of this twinning. In 2005/2006, Conferences in England and Wales were twinned with 1,638 Conferences overseas. More information about our twinnage programs can be read at our website here.
How can I support the SVP?
Praying for the people we serve locally, joining as a new member, and donating money, are all ways in which you can support our work.
You can email our local chair, Patrick Roche, by clicking this link or tel.01258-820205 for more information.
At the back of the church hall there are two wall boxes for donations. The box marked “SVP” is for our local work, our twinnage projects, as well as for occasional other projects we support. The box mark “Sudan” is exclusively to support the Sudan fund, as described on another page of this website.
