New Christmas Song for Peter McVerry Trust

Courtesy of Peter McVerry Trust

By Geneva Pattison

A brand new Christmas song has been released by Friends of Peter McVerry Trust, to raise some very much needed funds for homeless services at this special, but difficult time of the year for some. The new song, “This Time of Year”, has been written by John Evans and performed by Alan Brereton, to support families struggling with homelessness this winter. The imagery in the single evokes classical Christmas imagery, such as carol singing and wreaths adorning doors, but most importantly, it reminds us that nobody should be left in the cold during this merry season.

All of the money raised will be donated to Peter McVerry trust to assist homeless people in their search for safety and a place to call home.

The writer of the song, John Evens, went into more detail about the inspiration behind the track:

“The song celebrates Christmas and that familiar Christmas feeling, but reminds us that we shouldn’t take it for granted. Unfortunately, ‘food on every table and presents by each tree’ will not be a reality for the hundreds of families in Ireland who don’t have a place to call home this Christmas. Partnering with Peter McVerry Trust to raise money for their family homeless services feels like the perfect fit for this song. We hope to raise enough money to make this a special Christmas for the families, especially the children, who are living in their services.”

The CEO of Peter MCVerry Trust, Pat Doyle, has also said:
“Winter is the busiest time of the year for our charity and this year we will work with over 10,000 people, a 20% increase on last year. The release of ‘This Time of Year’ is a timely addition to our Christmas Fundraising Appeal as unfortunately the fundraising environment has been incredibly challenging since the onset of Covid-19 in Ireland.”

This charity song has come at a pertinent time, as the varying types of homelessness could not be more apparent. A 19 year old college student rang into Joe Duffy’s Live Line, to share his story of homelessness recently. The young man described his days as going from a hostel, to logging into his lectures, then to his university library or studying in the Wetherspoons pub. He said he is also working, and his homelessness had occurred for “personal reasons”.

The young man also spoke of always looking over his shoulder in hostels and being unable to sleep, as there are room checks every 2 hours. He is in receipt of HAP payment, but landlords are reluctant to take him in, and he doesn’t know what else to do. In calling Live Line, he said his hope was to let people know that homelessness can occur to anyone at anytime and even while doing everything you can to get out of the situation, sometimes you’re just stuck.

“This Time of Year” will hopefully help people like this young man, find their way out of homelessness and into a better life.

“This Time of Year” is available to purchase and download on Bandcamp: PMVT.bandcamp.com.
The public can support Peter McVerry Trust’s Christmas Fundraising Appeal by visiting www.pmvtrust.ie or calling 01 823 0776.