Secular alternative to SVP?

Aswerty

I was planning on donating some money to SVP on the lead up to Christmas though looking at the SVP website it has a very strong Christian ethos (not surprising considering the name). This wouldn't stop me from donating considering it's more about where the money eventually winds up than the organisation who distributes it. I was wondering though if there is a secular alternative to SVP that is as accessible to families/individuals who find themselves in financial trouble? And also do SVP discriminate who they help based on their religious ethos?

MagicMarker

Me, I'm secular, I'll take whatever you're offering.

MagicMarker

On a serious note, you could donate to the likes of Barnardos or Oxfam, both of which are secular afaik.

marienbad

As far as I know they do not discriminate and certainly not in this day and age, and they really do do outstanding work in a very discreet way . Down through the years I have heard nothing but good about them.

Shame on all of us that they are so vital a part of our support system.

amtw

St. VDeP is a Christian charity and Christianity is based on the principle of loving thy neighbour. I think that means all neighbours, of all religions and none. The benefit of giving to this charity is that it is locally based, there is a branch in every town in the country.

Sonics2k

I'm not a Christian by any means, but please do not hesitate to donate to SVP.

They are a truly fantastic charity, doing more for Irish people in need than many other groups can even dream about doing.

They have helped me in the past, and will offer help to anyone they can, and are not (by any means) the "preachy" type so many dislike.

Donate to SVP, they really are a great group.

Aswerty

Thanks for the quick responses. It's a gut instinct of mine to try and steer clear of anything related to religion but I think based on these responses SVP is what I'm looking for in this case. I know Bernardos and Oxfam do good work but I was specifically looking for a charity that helped a joe soap whose fallen on hard times.

robindch

Aswerty wrote: »

I was planning on donating some money to SVP on the lead up to Christmas though looking at the SVP website it has a very strong Christian ethos (not surprising considering the name).

I worked part-time for Dublin Simon for a few years and so far as I recall, there's a formal written policy of no religious discrimination or souping down there. I can't comment on SVP as we didn't really interact with them all that much.

Here are the fundraising coordinates:

Dublin Simon,
1-2 Cope Street, Dublin 2
T - 01 671 5551
E- fundraising@dubsimon.ie

Galvasean

Here's a great charity that is being run by a group of filthy atheists
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056449918
It's very different to the SVP though. The Simon community do great work too.

Peregrinus

The Simon Community, Barnardos and Oxfam are all religiously-inspired organisations.

There's a time not to be too precious about these things. Worry about what they do, not about why they do it. Are they going to use your money the way you think it should be used? Yes? Then bloody well give it to them.

robindch

Peregrinus wrote: »

Worry about what they do, not about why they do it.

I don't think anybody's worried about why they do it, so long as it's delivered impartially.

There are legitimate concerns about what terms and conditions religious people might (subtly or not-subtly) impose upon vulnerable people seeking or receiving aid from NGO's. It's worth checking out the statements-of-belief pages of the two organizations:

http://www.simon.ie/index.php?page=what-we-believe
http://www.svp.ie/about-us/mission-statement.aspx

The SC page says that "the principles of equality and anti discriminatory practice will underpin our work" which I assume means that it's committed to delivering its services without regard to religion (though I think they could be clearer about it; and it was certainly my experience over some years in the place). The SVP page, on the other hand, states that its members intend "to bring the love of Christ to those in need" which is similar to phrases and sentiments used by organizations which attempt to disseminate religion.

Now, as I said above, I've little idea what the SVP is like in practice, but their core beliefs are religious and their stated aim is religious. If they do the great work they do without introducing religion at any point or in any way then (a) they're succeeding where other similarly-founded organizations have failed in the past and (b) more power to them.

Aswerty

robindch wrote: »

I don't think anybody's worried about why they do it, so long as it's delivered impartially.

There are legitimate concerns about what terms and conditions religious people might (subtly or not-subtly) impose upon vulnerable people seeking or receiving aid from NGO's. It's worth checking out the statements-of-belief pages of the two organizations:

http://www.simon.ie/index.php?page=what-we-believe
http://www.svp.ie/about-us/mission-statement.aspx

The SC page says that "the principles of equality and anti discriminatory practice will underpin our work" which I assume means that it's committed to delivering its services without regard to religion (though I think they could be clearer about it; and it was certainly my experience over some years in the place). The SVP page, on the other hand, states that its members intend "to bring the love of Christ to those in need" which is similar to phrases and sentiments used by organizations which attempt to disseminate religion.

Now, as I said above, I've little idea what the SVP is like in practice, but their core beliefs are religious and their stated aim is religious. If they do the great work they do without introducing religion at any point or in any way then (a) they're succeeding where other similarly-founded organizations have failed in the past and (b) more power to them.

Aye it was the SVP statements of belief section that prompted me to post, it sounded like they have a heavy religious slant to what they do. Though I see now from the above posts and browsing the net that the religious focus is on the volunteers/members side of things and is not peddled when they are giving aid.

There's a time not to be too precious about these things. Worry about what they do, not about why they do it. Are they going to use your money the way you think it should be used? Yes? Then bloody well give it to them.

Well my questions were oriented about finding out the answer to the bit in bold and I explicitly stated that even though it was a religious organisation I'd still be happy to donate as long as there was not an alternative that better suited my personal perspective.

tricky D

Despite my thorough atheism, I would not hesitate to donate to them and others like Simon, Oxfam etc. A long time ago in my school days, I did visits for them and there was no preachy aspect invloved. The work they do is just incredible especially around this time of year. Some of the people and stories they deal with would break most people's heart, broke mine.