As Christmas approaches it is timely to thank you for your generosity in supporting the work of the project throughout 2021. Your contributions make a huge difference to the lives of many of the most vulnerable people in our area. Once again this year we are looking to provide a little extra for our clients at Christmas and would very much welcome financial contributions to help us to do so.
We continue to receive donations of food, clothing and footwear on Mondays between 10.30am and 1.30pm with the last delivery before Christmas being 20th December. The first Monday delivery day in the New Year will be 10th January. The list of items we are currently collecting is available here. In addition, particular needs at this time of year are winter clothing and new toys.
The demand for food is continuing to increase and we have to purchase additional items each week. We distribute around 600 food bags each month and expect that more people seeking asylum will be coming to the region in the near future. So how can you help? Can you re-energise the collections in your parish? Would you be willing to organise a regular food collection from your church, organisation or workplace? We would also like to hear from schools in the Diocese who could contribute to our work while learning more about the stories of those you are supporting and welcoming.
The project relies very heavily on our dedicated volunteers and we are currently looking for someone, available initially on a Monday, who would have an interest in administration tasks like printing, filing, organising, responding to phone calls and emails. The ideal person would be confident and have strong IT and communication skills.
Recently the project welcomed Bishop Robert. He said it was “wonderful to see so many people working together on what is one of the pressing needs of our time.” We were also delighted that Philomena O’Malley successfully completed her 80th birthday skydive while raising funds for the project. Well done Phil – her JustGiving Page is still available here.
If you are able to offer financial support for our work, details of our bank account (DHN Justice & Peace Refugee Project) can be found on our webpage. If your donation is by cheque please send this to St Vincent’s Centre (address above) for the attention of Sara Harris. Please consider Gift-Aiding – a Gift Aid Declaration form is available here or you can request one from marjory.knowles@gmail.com or 07929343418.
For more details about our work and how you can assist, please contact Sara Harris, Project Co-ordinator at sara.harris@diocesehn.org.uk or 07407 091184 or visit our webpage.
Thank you in the words of one of our clients: “When I had no other support the project gave me supermarket vouchers and bags of food. It was so important to me. I want to say thank you for everything.”