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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.

Birthdays come around quicker and quicker, it seems, and on Wednesday we are blessed to be able to remember that of St Vincent de Paul again! He was born in Gascony in 1581 and went on to spend much of his life in Paris, where he set about addressing the issues of poverty and hunger in very practical ways. As a result, he is known as the patron saint of charity and this inspired Blessed Frederic Ozanam to name his new group of charity workers ‘The Saint Vincent de Paul Society’ in 1833!

We hope you all had a holy and peaceful Easter and ‘Thank You’ to everyone who donated to the food bank over the period. Rest assured that the Easter eggs were gratefully received by the families. Thank You, also, to everyone who purchased items from our Gifted shop last weekend. It is always great to see your support for this initiative!

We had our monthly meeting on Monday evening and it is all systems go on a number of fronts. We had a strong turnout, despite the torrential rain, and we welcomed a new member to the team!