Posts

As we journey through winter, and the pandemic, we see a continual demand for our help. Because of your support and encouragement, we have always been able to say ‘Yes’ to these requests for help and, please God, this will always be the case.

At present, our busiest work streams are the food bank, home deliveries, phone-buddying, including with our sisters and brothers in detention, and our bereavement care. We are supported in some of these activities by our Young Persons SVP Team, the success of which was our brightest spot in 2020!

Firstly, the SVP Team wishes you all a very happy New Year and, with your support, we look forward to continuing to help our sisters and brothers in need.

We held our January monthly meeting on Monday evening and, once again, it was a full agenda with some great progress reported. Importantly, we made progress on finding a new president, who needs to be in place by the end of April for the next 5-year term. More details to follow, once formalities are finalised!

This has been one of the easiest news items to write this year! On behalf of the SVP Team, the Young Persons SVP, the wider team of food bank volunteers and our team of ’temporary’ members who continue to do our home delivery service, we would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to all of you, our bedrock.

Your spiritual and financial support and your continual encouragement of the work we do is the fuel that keeps us going! Your fabulous response to our Easter Appeal, the Young Persons Cake Sale and the recent sale of religious items, was humbling to us and affirmed that the Holy Spirit is a true reality in our parish. Please pray that this will always be the case and please have a very Holy Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

The Young Persons SVP cake sale proceeds were transformed into Christmas presents and safely delivered to the care home this week! Many thanks also to all of those who bought cakes last month, and also to the helpers who wrapped and packed these gifts.

Please thank the Young Persons SVP members when you meet them. They are our future.

Last Monday evening the SVP team held their final monthly meeting of the year, a year like no other! Guided by the Holy Spirit, and sustained by your prayers and encouragement, we have been able to maintain and adapt most of our activities during the pandemic.

The launch of our Young Persons SVP Team in March has been one of our highlights for 2020 and this group has now grown to 13 members. Some of these members formed the backbone of the Foodbank Team since the start of the first lockdown. In this year, of all years, we ask you to pray for these young people, and all young people, as we continue to journey through the challenges of COVID-19.