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Just a reminder that we are holding our annual SVP Cream Teas next Saturday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm. If the weather co-operates we will set up some tables outside so, please God, it will be a lovely event. This is the first SVP fundraiser of 2024 so we’d really appreciate your support and don’t be shy about bringing your family and friends also!

On a more profound note, you may have followed the news about the shocking conditions at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre found by HM Inspector of Prisons. If you would like to provide some hope and a friendly face to those being detained then why not get in touch with us? We support the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in exactly that. I’m sure if roles were reversed we would absolutely welcome a friendly voice. Have a think and rest assured that helping the JRS is a humbling and blessed opportunity.

A few Sundays back we mentioned the B-Attitudes team (i.e., the young person’s SVP) are always looking for new members. As a pure co-incidence, you might like to know that Monday is the UN’s World Youth Skills Day, with the theme for 2024 being “Youth Skills for Peace and Development”. It is the youth of today who will be solving the problems of an ever more complicated world in the future and, in order to address those problems, the UN has obviously concluded that today’s youth need to be nurtured in the skills of peace and development.

We had our monthly meeting on Monday evening and, as always, it was a packed agenda! It started with us welcoming a new member to the team, our 20th, and this really consolidates our strength in depth. We certainly have plenty of space for more new members, who then bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the wider team, so please come forward if you’d like to come onboard.

The beginning of each month is usually busy for the SVP as we have our monthly meeting on the first Monday, the bereavement support group on the first Wednesday (10:30 a.m. in the hall) and then the Gifted shop on the first Sunday (and preceding Saturday night). Thank you in advance for your support and prayers with these activities and please remember that our help is available all through the month!

Keeping young people on the right track can be a challenge these days! With summer holidays now not too far away, maybe you have some young people looking for things to do?

One long-term solution could be the SVP groups specifically aimed at nurturing young people: the Mini-Vinnies for primary school students and the B-Attitudes for secondary school students. Mini-Vinnie groups tend to be hosted by schools (St Swithun Wells has a group, for example), while the parish actually hosts a B-Attitudes group. These are, if you like, the foundations of the future adult SVP Team!