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Pope Francis, in his writings, asks us to use our faith to create ‘a culture of encounter.’ Given that we have a general election soon, both the SVP and CAFOD have labelled this year, ‘A Year of Encounter’. We are asked to inform ourselves of the issues of social justice within our society, so that we can ask our politicians to prioritise these. We are asked to encounter our politicians – be it at town hall hustings or just researching their standpoints online – so that we can arrive prepared at the polling booth on July 4. We all have a duty to cast our vote to promote the common good. So why not use these six weeks to do your research?

We’d like to thank everyone who continues to donate food to the food bank via our donation box in the porch. You can rest assured that your donations are very gratefully received by the many clients we still see visiting us each Saturday. You typically help 85 - 95 families each week by your donations and this number could easily equal about 350 of our brothers and sisters suffering from hunger through poverty.

Next Thursday marks the International Day of Living Together in Peace. The SVP’s social justice mission of ‘Turning Concern into Action’ is just one example of how the everyday people of this world can bring a little peace to those around us. Our four pillars of helping the lonely, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned aim to bring peace to those who find themselves suffering from these issues. The SVP’s help is there for anyone in need, irrespective of race, colour or creed. Blessed Frederic Ozanam set these founding principles for the SVP 191 years ago, long before the International Day of Living Together in Peace was established! If you’d like to turn your concern into action then why not contact us!

We hope you like our selection of gifts in Gifted this weekend! As always, if there is anything in particular that you are looking for then just mention it to us and we’ll see if we can get it for you. We usually look ahead to the feast days and saint’s days that are coming up and then we try and find some relevant items for those special days in the life of the Church. If you see a gap, though, then please let us know and we’ll try and plug it! This time of year, of course, we also have some lovely First Holy Communion and Confirmation gifts. So, happy shopping and thanks again for all your support.

Are you over 18? Can you spare a few hours on some Saturdays? Would you like to join the volunteering team that helps us run the food bank? Our food bank is our busiest workstream. To run it, we are helped by a brilliant team of adults and teenagers who wish to focus on the food bank without having to become a full member of the SVP.

With life events occurring and the holiday periods approaching, we now need to strengthen this team. The teenager section is in a super strong position, but the adult side of things could do with some new volunteers. Does this grab your attention? Then why not get in touch! Your hours and Saturday frequency can be up to you and the more volunteers, the less the effort! Have a think and just reach out to us if you’d like to know more.