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The past year and a half have been hard for many. We’ve lost family and friends and our finances have been squeezed as never before. The SVP is here to help, not just “out there” in the community, but also among our neighbours and fellow parishioners.

Over the past few weeks we have become aware of parishioners who have needed a little help and we have been able to assist. It takes courage to ask for help. Rest assured that this will always be handled in a non-judgemental, confidential and respectful manner.

A big thank you to everyone who supported the SVP shop, Gifted, this past weekend. As always, it was lovely to chat with you and get ideas of what to stock going forward.

We have had our monthly meeting for both the SVP and the B-Attitude group and we have some exciting events taking place this month: The B-Attitude group for young people will lead a garden day and tidy up around the statue of Our Lady on Wednesday August 18. There will also be a car wash later in the month where, for a donation, your car can be washed while you are at Mass. Details to follow.

As we all start to enjoy the summer holidays I wanted to let you know that the SVP does not break for summer.

The SVP shop, GIFTED, is open after all masses this weekend at the back of the church in the porch. The food bank remains open every Saturday between noon and 2pm, for all those in need of help with food. The Bereavement Care team with be available to meet over a cup of tea or coffee on Wednesday, Aug. 4. Home visits will also continue. Even the refugee detention centres near Heathrow are now allowing some face-to-face visits.

With restrictions lifted, the SVP has looked at our activities and, like many things, some will adjust and some will stay the same.

At the food bank, we will continue to wear face masks, and we will continue to meet people face to face, as long as both parties are comfortable with that. We are hoping to resume care home visits soon and the immigration detention centre has started to allow face to face meetings once more. Our religious shop, Gifted, has remained open during lockdown restrictions and will be open again next weekend, in the porch at the back of the church.

The food bank has been one of our activities that we have been able to run effectively during the pandemic. As you know, the number of visitors has increased exponentially. On average we are seeing around 60 families per weekend, from all walks of life.

As lockdown eased over the past weeks we have been able to adjust how we run and are now able to allow visitors inside the church hall, although we are a long way off from serving tea and coffee as we did before the pandemic.