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This coming week is the U.K.’s annual Volunteers’ Week, so please keep all volunteers in your thoughts and prayers. In our parish, in particular, we have an amazing range of SVP volunteers including the adult team, the B-Attitudes team (aged 11-18) and the Mini-Vinnies Team at St. Swithun Wells (primary school age). This list is just a subset of all the volunteers that help run the parish!

Volunteering has many, many benefits. For young people with long summer holidays ahead, it can give real-life, character-forming opportunities. If anyone is interested in joining any of the SVP teams, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Blessed Frederic Ozanam, when he founded the SVP in 1833, had a tremendous empathy with those less fortunate than himself. From those very early days in the life of the SVP, he focused on visiting the needy in their homes, bringing food and companionship.

SVP home visits to the lonely spring from this tradition and your SVP team, known as a ‘Conference’, tries it’s best to continue this tradition. A large number of people continue to suffer from loneliness and this is the case right across the age range.

Our SVP group, formally called a ‘Conference’, was 10 years old in April! This means that some of our earliest workstreams, such as the food bank, are also 10 years old! Need is ever-present in our society and we see this each Saturday at the food bank. Without your ongoing support we could not have kept the food bank open and we are ever grateful for this. Our supplies are particularly challenged at the moment and, for the first time in our 10 years, we are having to send our clients away empty handed, directing them to other help.

Our parish is blessed to have a young persons’ SVP Group, officially known as the B-Attitudes, who do all sorts of amazing voluntary work in our community. Mentored by members of our adult SVP team, the B-Attitudes help at the food bank, with litter-picking, with fundraising for the homeless and many other initiatives. We wish all our B-Attitudes the best of luck with any upcoming exams and we look forward to further mentoring during the summer holidays!

This weekend marks the first Sunday of the new month, so we have some regular SVP activities to remind you of:

Firstly, our shop, known as ‘Gifted’, is open this weekend and we hope that you find something prayerful there, for you or for your family or friends. Always ask us if there is something in particular that you are looking for and we will try and source it for you.