AT the moment, St Vincent de Paul are busy delivering Christmas hampers for families who need them in the Tralee area.

“We are seeing a big increase on last year, we’re definitely up 10% on last year,” said Junior Locke of St Vincent de Paul. “At present we have in the region of 600 hampers ready to go. We are very fortunate that we have the people of Tralee donating stuff to us.”

Despite unemployment numbers dropping and economic growth rising – according to national figures – St Vincent de Paul Tralee has still not seen this trickle down.

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Junior Locke is urging families who are feeling the pressure to stay away from money lenders.

“The families we see coming into us now are the ones who would have been supporting us before, but have now found themselves so stretched because of mortgage repayments or interest rates, they now need our help.”

“It’s fine until something happens – the car breaks down or a child gets sick. From there on they’re just borrowing money. So our big problem is money lenders,” he continued.

“So there are ways to get out of that through schemes we have with the Credit Union and MABS. With the help of both of them we can help facilitate small loans, to keep the money lenders away from the door.”

“We understand people are under pressure this time year, but it’s about being realistic. We understand the children want the best of everything, but not at the cost of going without food or heating. So we’re urging people not to go to the money lenders and come talk to us, the Credit Union or MABS. The last resort is never money lenders,” he said.

If you want to donate to help families less fortunate this Christmas, there is still time to give a helping hand. Garveys, Aldi and Tesco in Manor West have St Vincent de Paul drop off facilities.  Donations can also be given to the St Vincent de Paul Shop on Friary Lane.

“We’d just like to thank people for giving this Christmas, without their help we wouldn’t be able to support families that need it most,” said Junior.