Please read the latest update from the SVP about the work they do in our Diocese.
Recent articles:
In September, two students from Durham University accompanied a national SVP1833 young adult Paris pilgrimage to sites of significant historic importance to the SVP. Read the full article here.
Jan Cruickshanks, who works at St. Vincent’s Centre in Byker, spent a night sleeping on the streets of Newcastle on 18 October. Read the full article here. This was to promote awareness of those who spend every night on the streets and raise vital funds to allow the centre to continue to support these and other vulnerable people. Jan has a ‘Vinnies Sleep Out’ Just Giving page for any donations towards this cause: https://www.justgiving.com/page/vinniesnew-newcastle-1726490687951. Thank you!
About the SVP:
The role of a conference varies from one parish to another, however befriending remains at the heart of what the SVP does. Visits take place at beneficiaries’ homes, sheltered accommodation or residential care. Every visit can be so different. Those who are elderly or housebound enjoy chatting about their past, hobbies and family. One SVP member shared how time seems to fly by during his visits to beneficiaries, one of which is over 100 years old, as they engage in conversation fuelled by tea and biscuits. Some beneficiaries prefer a phone call, so SVP members are only too happy to keep in touch in this way. The recurring theme when listening to SVP members talk about these befriending visits is always that they are as equally valued by both those visited and the SVP members themselves. For the housebound, lonely or downhearted, the power of personal contact must never be underestimated!
Nationally, there’s been a 49% increase in requests to the SVP for help over the past 24 months. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, more people are facing extreme financial difficulties. Equally, the cost of delivering our services also continues to rise. Parish SVP groups rely on the generosity of parishioners in their fundraising efforts. Equally helpful are donations of unwanted items, such as clothing, to the SVP Support Projects and shops in the Newcastle-Gateshead area, or to the Revive Centre in Sunderland.
If you have any questions about how to support the work of the SVP, email Deacon Patrick Rutherford at patrickr@svp.org.uk.
