'One of the best days of our year': Cork charity giving Communion outfits to families

ONE of Cork’s oldest charities will be giving out communion dresses and suits this weekend to families who are struggling with the cost of living.

Cork Penny Dinners will open up its wellness centre on St James’s Street this Sunday to help families who may find it difficult to make ends meet ahead of First Communion this year.

Caitríona Twomey, the charity’s volunteer co-ordinator, told The Echo the centre will be set up to resemble a shop so the day feels like a shopping experience for the children visiting.

“We do this every year to alleviate stress and financial costs for families, and it’s one of the best days of our year. We don’t just give out dresses that day, we do it in the months leading up to the Communion, but we do put on a day for people,” said Ms Twomey.

“Everything is geared toward keeping the children happy and giving them a memory for life, the way I remember my communion as one of the happiest days of my life.”

She said the dresses and suits are donated to the charity by “kind and generous people”.

Last year, the Catholic bishop of Cork and Ross spoke out against the pressures families face at Communion and Confirmation time, after The Echo reported that Penny Dinners had given 36 Communion dresses and 24 pairs of shoes to girls, while also dressing 17 boys.

Bishop Fintan Gavin told The Echo that the Catholic Church does not require anyone to spend money on First Holy Communion Day, saying the eucharist is “a free gift from God”.

“That’s what Communion day is all about, and I do appreciate there are all of the other sociological, cultural challenges that people, through the culture, put onto themselves,” he said. “I’m hearing stories about people putting an awful lot of pressure on themselves ... but it’s not what’s the essential.”

The Cork Penny Dinners wellness centre Communion shop on St James’s Street will be open from 11am to 4pm on Sunday, March 24, and all are welcome.