By Katie Ascough - 12 June, 2020
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, has thanked the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation for its “exceptional and magnificent” £1 million donation to help Catholic charities cope with poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation was earmarked for immediate use.
Cardinal Nichols praised the donation as “a remarkable gift given on behalf of a man of unique vision and determination by a generous foundation”.
In consultation with the foundation and the four other metropolitan archbishops, a process was established to enable Catholic charities to apply for emergency grants to support front-line action –such as food banks, food vouchers and crisis schemes targeting those most in need – in tackling poverty .
Applications were requested by 31 May and the allocation of grants has been made in such a way as to ensure that most parts of England and Wales benefit from the Albert Gubay Foundation’s remarkable act of generosity.
How the grants were allocated:
– Over £400,000 to strengthen the work of local food banks and the direct provision of food.
– Over £250,000 to augment programmes of food vouchers for the poorest impacted by COVID-19.
– Over £335,000 for the immediate financial assistance of those in extreme circumstances.
In total, 38 applications were received for grants with proposals totalling over £2 million.
Cardinal Nichols praised the Gubay family and the value of the work of Catholic charities in combating COVID-19: “On behalf of so many, I wish to express heartfelt thanks to the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation for this exceptional and magnificent donation to such important work. In particular, I thank the Gubay family for their leadership in this remarkable gift which is in addition to the regular charitable giving of the foundation. I do so, not only on behalf of every bishop in England and Wales for the confidence it shows in the effectiveness of the charitable work of our Catholic charities, but much more importantly, on behalf of all those whose hardship will be alleviated by this outstanding generosity.
“In offering these words of thanks, I wish to emphasise the unique characteristic of this effort. All of it – all of this remarkable gift will be spent on the immediate relief of hardship, and, I stress, its effects will be felt across the whole of England and Wales.”
