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Did you know that next Sunday, July 30, is the UN International Day of Friendship? The aim is to promote friendship between peoples, countries, cultures, organisations and communities. Some people say that it is much harder today to make friends than it was when they were young. This may, or may not, be true but it is something that we can all influence and change.

If you, or someone you know, is struggling to make friends in the parish, then why not reach out to the SVP Team? You can approach any of us for a chat and you can also attend any of our events. If you have free time you could even join the team, and then you are assured of 19 new friends straightaway! This goes for the under-18s too, who will make lots of great friends in our B-Attitudes Team! Why not contemplate on the International Day of Friendship this year, and see where the Holy Spirit leads.

A final reminder that, on next Saturday 22nd July 3-5pm, the SVP team will be holding the annual Cream Teas and Raffle fund raising event. We hope that you can make it and that you can bring some of your friends and family too.

Like a pebble that is dropped in a pond, whose ripples then travel and bring about unforeseen benefits, this event may be the same and, who knows, one or two people may find that they want to join the SVP team! Our workload continues to grow, and we do need more members in order that we can deal with issues and requests in a timely and effective manner. Just chat to any SVP member on the 22nd if you’d like to know more.

We are holding our annual Cream Teas & Raffle Afternoon at 3pm to 5pm on Saturday, July 22 on the church grounds. We hope you can make it, and that Mother Nature co-operates too! If you would like to bake a cake, that would be great. Just bring it along at 2pm, once food bank closes, or just before 3pm. Also, any donations for the raffle prizes would be welcomed.

The SVP gets involved in many activities. One of the most visible is the SVP food bank. The cost of living crisis is affecting many across society. This is having a major impact of those who need to utilise food banks. Here at St Gregory’s, as well as our regular visitors, we are seeing new people visiting the food bank each week. The story is very similar: people just can not make ends meet. We would like to thank you for the support as a parish you give the SVP and the food bank and if you can continue to pop donations into the food bank collection box in the parish porch that would be wonderful and gratefully received. Please bear in mind that with the school holidays on the horizon many families will need to find a little extra as children will be home all day.

UK Refugee Week commences tomorrow and encompasses the United Nation’s World Refugee Day on Tuesday. Some of our team turn their concern into action by supporting the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) with carrying out social visits to people held in detention at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook. We would encourage you to find some quiet time this week to read up on the issue of refugees in today’s world, and to become more informed. Our Lord and King, Jesus, is our role model when it comes to defending, and speaking up for, the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. We can do this more effectively if we inform ourselves of the real issues behind the headlines. Let’s not remain silent when we see the weakest of our sisters and brothers being further victimised in our society.