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St Vincent de Paul Society Receives Diana Award
“YOUNG PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE THE LIVES OF OTHERS’
This year members of our College Conference of the Society of the St Vincent de Paul were honoured by the Trustees of The Diana, Princess of Wales Trust with a ‘Diana Award, Certificate of Excellence’ in recognition of their achievements in contributing positively to their local community.
The Diana Trust promotes a culture that celebrates young people from all sections of society who have made a selfless contribution to their community and who are changing their communities for the better.
Ray Havlin, Area Vice-President of the North Down and Ards St Vincent de Paul Conference and Sarah Havlin of the College Board of Governors presented the award to the students. Mr Havlin said
I have had personal experience of the St Columbanus’s College students commitment and dedication to the values of The Society of St Vincent de Paul and I wish to personally commend all the members of the group as positive role models for children and young people in this community. Each one of them is a committed and passionate advocate of social justice and inclusion. The College SVP Group shares many of the values and principles of the Diana Foundation. They are young people reaching out the hand of friendship and support to the most excluded and vulnerable people living in their local community, people who are otherwise ignored by and unknown to most other young people of the same age. They are united in their common goals and personal values, which is typical of the students of this inclusive College. They truly deserve recognition for their work and I believe that this Diana Award of ‘Certificate of Excellence’ is most appropriate.
Our Principal Mr. Perry said:
The College SVP Conference has worked very successfully under the invaluable leadership of Mrs Sheridan, Ms Canavan, Mrs Kennedy and Miss Colton and I am very proud of both the staff and students who have established and grown the College SVP group over the last few years. I am delighted to see such an accolade presented to our students for their hard work and their inspirational commitment to the work of the SVP.
Our College SVP Conference has carried out some amazing work in this last year:
- Delivery of a Community Christmas Dinner and day of entertainment to the elderly in our community. Not only have they participated in the organisation and provided the musical and other entertainment but they give up their time to staff the event with great enthusiasm and a true community spirit.
- Oversight and management of a Christmas Hamper Scheme involving the creation and delivery of luxury Christmas food and gifts to around 75 disadvantaged families in the local area.
- Visiting Scheme - to the residents of a local Nursing Home for the Elderly, some of whom have no family members around to support them or provide company.
- Members recently attended a Schools SVP conference at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast to share ideas and best practice with other youth conferences in Northern Ireland. They engaged in our fund-raising “Night With the Stars” to raise money for the charity.
Loneliness and social exclusion can be just as devastating to the human spirit as poverty and the members of our SVP Group are living examples of how simple acts of love and kindness can make just as much of a difference to the lives of vulnerable people as financial support, if not more. Why not find out more about the difference you can make by joining the College SVP conference?