Catholic charities have been given a windfall £1 million donation to help alleviate poverty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols praised the “outstanding generosity” of the Albert Gubay Foundation after the donation, earmarked for immediate use.
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.
The foundation was set up in 2010 at the behest of frugal and successful businessman and philanthropist Albert Gubay who died in 2016. He had pledged during his life that all his wealth built up through the Derwent Group, a commercial property company, would on his death go to benefit good causes connected with the Catholic Church. Gubay's businesses included household names such as Kwik Save. Based on the Isle of Man, the foundation fulfils a pact he made with God as a young man, saying in a prayer: “Make me a millionaire and I’ll give you half of my money.”
In 2011, Cardinal Nichols presented Mr Gubay with a Papal Knighthood bestowed on him by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI – the Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St Gregory the Great – for his philanthropic work.
Today, Cardinal Nichols praised the donation as “a remarkable gift given on behalf of a man of unique vision and determination by a generous foundation”.
The bishops set up a process to enable Catholic charities to apply for emergency grants to support front-line action in tackling poverty such as for food banks, food vouchers and crisis schemes targeting those most in need. Applications were requested by 31 May and of the grants allocated, more than £250,000 has gone to food voucher programmes and more than £335,000 for immediate financial assistance of those in extreme circumstances. In total, 38 applications were received for grants with proposals totalling over £2 million.
Cardinal Nichols said: “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.”