Caritas

Caritas in the Diocese- having shown an interest by attending a Zoom meeting, I seem to have become a ‘parish representative’ and have been asked to feed into a Diocesan mapping initiative, to consider what provision already exists in parishes. Our parish runs several relevant groups, but I know that many individuals also have very valuable experience and expertise which they may want to share as part of a parish response/resource. The Diocesan initiative focuses on the following areas:

• Safeguarding the Earth, our common home, including developing a diocesan environmental strategy
• Poverty and dignity, including tackling homelessness
• Modern slavery, human trafficking and exploitation
• Support for refugees and asylum seekers, which might include working with local charity Faith in Families to promote the Home Office’s Community Sponsorship scheme for Syrian refugees
• Tackling isolation in society, for instance through friendship groups and drop-in cafes in church halls.

Please let me know if you are involved in any of these areas, as a group or an individual, and are willing for me to record what you do as something the parish is involved in- I don’t want to miss anything out so please don’t assume I’ve remembered all the parish groups! I will not be sharing any contact details.

Catherine Danaher