Cardinal Vincent Nichols has thanked the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation for its “exceptional and magnificent” £1m donation to help Catholic charities cope with poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 in tackling poverty such as for food banks, food vouchers and crisis schemes targeting those most in need.
Applications were requested by May 31 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 £2m.
Cardinal Nichols praised the Gubay family and also 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,” he said.
“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 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.”
Catholic Philanthropist Gubay, the founder of then-household names Kwik Save and Total Fitness, created the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation in 2010. 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 carried out over many years. He died on January 5 2016.