Avoca (A Voice Of Central Americans) was set up in memory of Charlie and Rosie O’Neill in 2002. Their son, Father Peter O’Neill, was a Franciscan
priest who worked in Central America for over 35 years. It was his idea to help the people and communities which he had spent his life serving. The charity supports communities in Central American countries by raising funds for social and environmental projects which aim to help people improve their quality of life.
We are three generations of family based in the United Kingdom. Fr Peter O’Neill has two sisters, Rose and Eileen and a brother Maurice, nine nieces and nephews and eight great nieces and nephews all of whom help run and fundraise for the charity. There are also a number of family friends who are actively involved in fundraising or running projects.
Sadly and suddenly Fr Peter O’Neill died after suffering a heart attack in 2010. You can read his obituary here. [ Fr Peter O’Neill OFM Obituary]. Many family members were fortunate to have visited Fr Peter in Central America prior to his death and forged strong friendships and love of the countries and for their people. It was for this reason that the family had no hesitation in continuing with the charity following his death.
Fundraising events are usually local to the family members and include a variety of activities including car boot sales, quiz nights, an annual
Avoca calendar and comedy nights. We are also fortunate to be supported by a number of schools and other organisations.
Projects are largely initiated and run by the communities themselves. All the funds raised go directly to support the social and environmental
projects. Either family members, Franciscan priests or Poor Clare nuns working in communities are directly responsible for implementing and over-viewing most of the projects. We also support not for non profit and non governmental organisations which also run social and environmental
projects for communities in Central America. In these cases family members have met and visited the organisations and their projects to see what goes
on, meet the organisers and participants and see how money is spent. This ensures that funds directly reach the people who need them most.
Charlie, Rosie and Peter O’Neill circa 1968