Rising fuel costs take toll on charities across Cork

Charities across Cork have been affected by the rising fuel prices in recent weeks, with some warning that their services may be impacted.

Friendly Call Cork is a free service that provides a daily phone call to older people or to individuals who may feel lonely, isolated, or vulnerable in the city. It also supports people who have difficulty engaging with their community.

Based in Churchfield, the service also operates a minibus to bring people to medical appointments and help them get around. 

Jackie Fitzgibbon, Friendly Call’s co‑ordinator, said rising fuel costs have had a significant impact on the charity.

“The minibus is heavy enough on diesel as it is, but we would have seen a rise of about 20% in the past few weeks since the war in Iran started,” she said.

“We are also seeing a lot of our older people, a lot them are housebound, and heating is expensive for them anyway, at the best of times, but it’s just sky-rocketed.

“A lot of them would say to us, ‘I’ll just stay in the bed because it’s warmer’.

“It’s really sad. I know there’s been a bit of an extension to the fuel allowance, but really it doesn’t touch the costs people are seeing.” 

Denis Toomey, chairperson of the Kinsale branch of the Red Cross, said it was only coming up to the start of that charity’s busiest time of year, so the full impact of the fuel crisis had yet to be felt.

“We are run entirely by volunteers, but we charge for our services to the various organisations, so if prices don’t eventually start coming down, we would probably have to start upping what we would charge them,” he said.

“We wouldn’t be able to hold additional costs and run at a loss, but up until now it hasn’t impacted us too much because the sporting and cultural events that we’re providing duty to are really only starting to kick off.

“We do charge; if someone books an ambulance, that covers fuel, insurance, and maintenance, and we just had to replace our ambulance in Kinsale, at a cost of €34,000. So we’re depending on that income to pay for that.

If fuel prices don’t come down, I would imagine we’ll have to pass that additional cost along, unfortunately.

The national co-oordinator for Meals on Wheels, Tracey Noone, said some Meals on Wheels providers will be making decisions to move from a five-day delivery to three-day amid the fallout from the fuel protests of recent days.

Other providers will be asking chefs to be more creative with ingredients in stock if deliveries of supplies are affected, she said.

In Cork, Paddy O’Brien, a long-time advocate for the elderly, expressed concern that petrol shortages might affect the ability of some Meals on Wheels volunteers do get to people depending on deliveries.

“With petrol still scarce in many areas, I would be worried that not everyone who needs a delivery will get one,” he said.

“In the meantime, I would appeal to the neighbours of the people who get Meals on Wheels to please keep an eye out for them.

“A knock on the door of a senior citizen could save a life.”