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Our SVP Monthly Meetings continue online to the usual schedule and that means July’s meeting occurs on Zoom on Monday evening at 8pm. Even though our activities are constrained at present we always seem to have a lot to say!! That surely is a great sign of the strength of the Power of the Spirit within our blessed parish.

Our most active work streams at present include the food bank, bereavement care, phone-buddying and mentoring of the Young Persons SVP. If there are needs that we should be addressing, but that we have not got on our radar, then please do not hesitate to get in touch - it is sometimes difficult to see the bigger picture when you are too close to the detail so, rest assured, we will receive all feedback in a positive light!!

Like other aspects of our society, the SVP Team now needs to think of how we adjust ourselves to the new ’normal’. Our most active workstream at the moment is the Foodbank, and we have kept this open during the pandemic with an intentionally-small team acting as a Foodbank bubble. This strategy works well for short term issues but it removes team qualities such as resilience and sustainability, that are necessary for longer-term success.

A stranger was strolling past the Foodbank last Saturday when the queue and the banter of the clients attracted his attention. He turned around and came to get a closer look. A minute later and he was comfortably sitting on a chair, guitar removed from his back, and warming up his vocal chords. He treated us to a joyful half-hour of songs, finishing with How Great Thou Art!

The Foodbank session was very busy, the ’new normal’, and we never got to say thank you to this brother of ours. Hopefully he will come back. In the meantime, if you’d like to treat us to some music then why not just turn up! David (recall David and Goliath) cheered up Saul with music when Saul felt troubled, so why not you to add joy to our Saturdays at the Foodbank!! It’ll be appreciated!!

Did you know that the UK recently celebrated National Volunteers Week? It was from June 1st to 7th. This year it was especially significant, due to the pandemic, and so it is an opportune moment to say ‘Thank You’ to all who support the SVP in the parish, and globally too.

In the parish, we have the Mini-Vinnies (primary school ages), the Young Persons SVP (secondary school and university ages) and the ‘Full Member’ SVP Team (the grown-ups). Importantly, though, we also have a team of what you might call ‘Temporary SVP Members’, who have come together as a result of the pandemic to help with home deliveries of prescriptions and food, who collect fresh food donations from local shops and who phone-buddy the housebound.

Did you know that Bereavement Counselling is one of the services that your SVP Team provide? We are blessed to have four members in the team who have been trained in providing Bereavement Counselling and in ’normal’ times they would be available in the hall on the first Wednesday of every month, after the 10am mass, for a couple of hours.

Clearly, due to COVID-19, these monthly drop-in sessions are not currently happening. The Bereavement counsellors are still available on our mobile phone, however, and this replacement ‘phone buddying’ is working very well. As the phone buddying service is not as visible as the drop-in sessions, though, can you please just be reminded that if you, or someone you know, are suffering from grief then the counsellors are still here to stand by your side and support you. Can you please help us spread this message?