St Vincent De Paul Celebrates Members Day In Newcastle

The Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle was the venue for the 2016 St Vincent de Paul Members’ Day which saw more than 80 members of the charity’s Northern Regional Conferences gather to listen to presentations and to take part in workshops under the theme of ‘One Society of St Vincent de Paul’.

After a welcome and prayers from Regional President Aidan Crawford, members were updated on the Region’s work along with reports from the Society’s operating Committees.  This was followed by a presentation on Clare Lodge, the charity’s respite and well-being Centre which is located on Newcastle’s Central Promenade, during which the audience heard how successful the Centre’s first year of operation has been and what plans are in place for the Christmas period and the upcoming 2017 season.

The guest speaker at the event was Professor Eileen Evason, who spoke on Welfare Reform in Northern Ireland.  Earlier this year Professor Evason led a group which published proposals to mitigate the impact of UK-wide welfare reforms in Northern Ireland.

At the event were (l-r) Aidan Crawford, Regional President of SVP; Geraldine Magee, Training Co-ordinator from the East Down area; Prof Eileen Evason; Pauline Brown, Regional Manager for SVP; Mairead Breen from Newcastle, Chair of the SVP Overview Committee; Brendan O’Neill, Regional Vice President of SVP, Cormac Wilson, Regional Senior Vice President of SVP and Sean O’Neill, Chair of the SVP Finance Committee.
At the event were (l-r) Aidan Crawford, Regional President of SVP; Geraldine Magee, Training Co-ordinator from the East Down area; Prof Eileen Evason; Pauline Brown, Regional Manager for SVP; Mairead Breen from Newcastle, Chair of the SVP Overview Committee; Brendan O’Neill, Regional Vice President of SVP, Cormac Wilson, Regional Senior Vice President of SVP and Sean O’Neill, Chair of the SVP Finance Committee.