COPE Galway supported almost 3,000 people across the city and county last year, as demand for their services continued to grow.
The charity launched their 2022 annual report this week, showing 2,961 local men, women and children sought support across their services for Homelessness, Domestic Abuse and Senior Support last year.
COPE worked with 843 women, children and young people impacted by domestic abuse last year – a 21% increase on the previous year. Significantly, staff dealt with a staggering 10 crisis calls per day relating to domestic abuse.
COPE Galway also worked with 1,217 people, including 303 children, who were homeless or at risk of homelessness; and they supported 901 older people with healthy, independent ageing at home.
CEO Michael Smyth said, “These figures give a sense of the extensive reach, range and widely felt impact of the work we achieved in the Galway Community.”
“As the people we work with navigated a difficult period in their lives with dignity and strength, our professional, caring and persevering employees supported each person along their journey, often under extremely challenging circumstances.”
Mr Smyth called on the government to address a deficit in statutory funding for such essential services.
Currently COPE Galway receives 74% of their funding for essential services from state bodies, but requires charity to bridge the remaining gap to cover a quarter of their costs.
Mr Smyth noted that the community and voluntary sector is operating in an increasingly unsustainable environment and challenged the State to rectify this.
“It is unacceptable that we must depend on charity or philanthropy to cover 26% of our costs in delivering essential services to the people of Galway,” he said.
Smyth cited precarious year-to-year statutory funding and a legacy – since 2009 – of unrestored and wide-sweeping funding cuts.
This in an environment where NGO staff continue to be asked to work more for pay levels that are between 10 and 19 per cent below their public sector counterparts.
He concluded, “While the commitment of our employees makes it possible for us to continue to deliver essential services and support those in our community who need it most, we are struggling to retain and recruit staff due to pay deficits that threaten our sector’s ability to maintain and expand service delivery.”
“It’s time for Government to step up and address the unacceptable and unsustainable deficit in statutory funding to deliver services in support of basic human needs.”
