The housing crisis has led to an unprecedented 50 rough sleepers, people living in cars or ‘couch surfing’ – all reaching out to a homeless charity every day in Galway City.

Last year also saw a phenomenal increase in the number of crisis calls to Cope Galway’s helpline about domestic violence – soaring 87% to 7,257 calls.

In its annual report, the charity outlined that 2023 was one of its busiest years yet in its five-decade history, responding to a 16% increase in demand across all services.

There are now so many rough sleepers in the city’s door wells or in tents in parks that staff have extended their outreach programme to four mornings and four evenings per week and increased the opening hours of its day centre. Up to now there was just a morning service three mornings a week.

The lifting of the eviction ban in March 2023 led to a surge in Notices to Quit, increasing pressure on their already burdened homeless services, the report states.

Head of Operations, Martin O’Connor, said just 18 months ago the numbers accessing the day centre was between eight and twelve on any given day.

“We’re now seeing 50 a day, that’s certainly a peak for our day service outside of a severe weather event,” he said.

“There is a big increase in the number of people sleeping in tents, sleeping in cars or other vehicles and in other precarious circumstances, such as relying on the goodwill of family and friends and surfing on a couch for a few nights, so they come here to avail of a shower, food or laundry.”

Staffing levels last year were so low at times that services were “frequently and severely threatened”.

Teams on each site and across services worked additional hours including nights and weekends and cancelled leave to make sure that Cope Galway’s doors remained open.

The Corrib Haven Family Hub which provides supported temporary accommodation had a 30% staff shortage at one point. New team members have recently joined the service.

The almost doubling in calls to the domestic abuse helpline compared to 2022 is thought to be due to the national and local awareness campaigns.

“It might almost seem contradictory, but we’re quite pleased at that increase because it means there is a growing knowledge and awareness that support is there, and it encourages women to come forward.”

Overall Cope Galway worked with 3,423 people last year – over 400 more than in 2022.

Nearly 1,300 needed support for homelessness, 330 of them children. The domestic abuse service helped 960 women and their 197 children during 2023. A total of 123 women and their 131 children were provided refuge at Modh Eile House.

In the Senior Support Service, just under 1,000 older people availed of supports, with nearly 83,000 meals delivered – up by 12,000 more meals than the previous 12 months.

The domestic abuse service saw an almost 40% jump in support provided, driven largely by an expansion of their outreach and court accompaniment services across the city and county.

The homeless service saw a 15% rise in families requiring emergency accommodation and there was a 16% jump in the number of meals provided for older people living at home, Assistant CEO Mr O’Connor pointed out.

“Our prevention and early engagement work in Galway was particularly strong and included support through our community-based housing, preventing a return to homelessness; outreach support in their own communities for women experiencing domestic abuse and enhanced community and nutritional supports for older people so they remain healthier and in their homes for longer,” he said.

“Many in our community are struggling with significant challenges in their lives.  We are pleased that we were able to help so many last year, but are concerned about the continuing growth in numbers, particularly due to homelessness. Tackling the acute housing crisis is the first and foremost solution to this.”

Over €1m was raised by the charity in fundraising – the 49 participants in the Business Leaders’ Sleep Out raised €251,340 for the Homeless Service, the biggest fundraiser of the year.

Cope Galway had a budget of €10.4m, an increase of a million euro or 11% on 2022, mainly due a hike in public funding to offset a decrease in fundraising and grants. Over three-quarters of that comes from Galway City Council, the HSE and Tusla.

The charity has 165 staff – down from 180 employees – backed up by 200 regular volunteers. There was a 50% greater investment in training compared to the year before.

While welcoming the 2023 national pay agreement as a step forward in aligning the community and voluntary sector with public service pay, more needs to be done, insisted Mr O’Connor.

“Sustainable funding is crucial to attract and retain staff so we can continue delivering the high-quality services our community deserves,” he said.

A grant from the Joe and Helen O’Toole Charitable Trust has paid for the pilot roll-out of the Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships Educational Programme to 600 students aged 12 to 15 in 12 schools across Galway by Solas Óg, the charity’s service for children and young people.

The workshops challenge negative relationship attitudes. Following positive feedback from teachers and students, the programme will be rolled out to all schools in the city and county.

Pictured: COPE Galway’s Sinead Carey, Head of Homeless Service; Martin O’Connor, Assistant CEO and Director of Operations; Jacquie Lynskey, Head of Senior Support Service; Ailbhe Crean, Senior Social Care worker (Domestic Abuse) and Gillian McNamee, Head of Domestic Abuse Service pictured at the launch of COPE Galway’s 2023 annual report.  Photo: Andrew Downes, xposure