Counselling offered to SVP volunteers

VOLUNTEERS with St Vincent de Paul have been offered counselling to cope with the trauma of visiting families living in poverty.

Cork regional president of the St Vincent de Paul Brendan Dempsey said the counselling was introduced last year so volunteers could talk to someone about the tragic stories they were encountering.

“We introduced counselling for our own members who needed it. Not everybody needed it by any means; in fact, few enough availed of it, but, yes, we did offer counselling to our members. They were shocked by what they found, especially visiting homes that had, unfortunately, had suicides.”