A time for giving and sharing

“It’s an attempt to give back, and give some morsel of joy to some of the most vulnerable people in our society at the moment.”

Those were the words of UCC student Billy Donovan, who recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to bring Christmas to families living in Direct Provision.

The campaign aims to raise enough funds to arrange Christmas parties for the families. A student of International Development and Food Policy, Billy has been running the parties for the last two years.

“We learn quite a lot about Direct Provision in the course. Just hearing our lecturer, Mike Fitzgibbon, speak about it, I knew I had to give something back. As Irish people, we have such a strong culture of Christmas, and coming together in times like this. I would have been heavily involved with the Red Cross where we do old folks parties and things like that.

“It was kind of a similar vein but these people were so much more in need,” continued Billy, “it’s not like a Christmas Party in a Christian way, it’s much more like Santa, and the gift of giving. That spans all religion, race, and cultures - the act of giving.”

With the money raised, each of over 400 children will receive a present on the day. The events will also offer food and drink, entertainers, crafts and cover the costs of transportation to and from the centres.

“We’ll get together with some of the women in centre because they would have recipes from their own cultures. So we would cook food that would suit their cultures. In Direct Provision, their right to cook food, to spread that food culture, is gone. You’re not allowed to cook your own food in many of the Direct Provision centres,” said Billy.

Families living in Direct Provision receive an allowance each week of just €29.80 for children and €38.80 for adults.

“There is very, very little for them in terms of joy,” concluded Billy.

The staff and students of UCC ask for continued support from communities in Cork, to meet their fundraising goal, and bring Christmas to those who need it most. For further information and to donate, visit the campaign’s GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/cork-direct-provision-christmas-parties-fund.