Caritas Hexham and Newcastle Fund

Gift for Life aims to support the most vulnerable and desperate in society, those with no choice, those in crisis situations, those whose basic needs are not being met and those who require life-saving support, whether in our local community or on the other side of the world.

Gift for Life was established within the then Parish of St Mary’s in Whickham to raise funds for a project to bring clean water nearer to the homes of the community of Mbogoni in Kenya’s Rift Valley. The initial link had been made through school exchange visits with Catholic Nuns from the Order of the Little Sisters of St Francis who were able to oversee the project to its successful completion. Today, over 20 years on, the generosity of the now wider parish of Our Lady and St Philip Neri has allowed us to expand our Gift for Life activity which now supports international humanitarian work among the most vulnerable in Kenya and India as well as local support for refugees and those seeking asylum.

As a parish it is one way in which we have been able to respond to the call of Pope Francis: “I invite the whole Church, and men and women of good will everywhere, to turn their gaze to all those who stretch out their hands and plead for our help and solidarity. They are our brothers and sisters, created and loved by the one Heavenly Father.”

The Mercy Hub works so that disadvantaged families in Newcastle can integrate, flourish and be happy. We do this by:

• creating opportunities for families to come together for enjoyment and learning
• building a peer support community across racial and ethnic boundaries
• supporting families to access specialist services
• working in the more deprived wards of Newcastle.

Our families come from some of the most deprived areas in Newcastle. 83% of them are in the bottom 30% of deprivation (using the IMD, the index of multiple deprivation). Many are single parents. 85% are from a BAME background which can mean they struggle to make local connections.

Northumbrian Industrial Mission (NIM), is an ecumenical charity founded in 1971 by the church leaders, to bring together under common management the mission of sponsoring churches and other sponsoring bodies, to industry, commerce and the workplace. There is a significant Catholic presence within NIM’s structure alongside our ecumenical partners.

NIM provides workplace chaplains, mainly voluntary, to workplaces in the region.  Many of them are lay people who give generously of their time to be there for others. They support people of all walks of life who are struggling with the demands of the workplace or personal issues such as bereavement, caring roles, or financial pressures. NIM offers an independent and confidential anchor in times of crisis, additional to other modes of support for staff.

Churches Together South Tyneside is a registered charity established in 1997 working in South Tyneside. We were set up to enable churches across South Tyneside to work together and in partnership with other organisations to reach out and meet the needs of some of our most disadvantaged residents.   In 2020 – 21 we supported approx. 20,000 local people of all ages. We employ 6 part time staff. We couldn’t do our work without the 250+ volunteers who have faithfully worked throughout Covid Members include representatives from eight ‘neighbourhood’ church groups (approx. 60 churches) in Hebburn, Jarrow, The Boldons, Whitburn, Cleadon and South Shields and individuals from churches and the wider community who support its work. Our current activities:

• HAPPY AT HOME – a befriending service supporting 200 isolated old people with home visits, social events
• POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROJECT – foodbank, fuel voucher scheme, school uniform recycling project, ‘Food and Fun’ holiday programme for children,
• STREET ANGELS – keeping vulnerable revellers (particularly women) safe at weekends on the Metro and whilst out in South Shields.
• NURTURING DEMENTIA– supporting people with dementia and their carers by teaching communication skills and raising awareness of how to support them in the churches and community

Two projects set up by CTST are now independent charities but continue to be affiliated: KEY (preventing young people becoming homeless); STARCH (supporting asylum seekers and refugees.)

The aim of our group is to support Catholics in the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese who identify as LGBT+ or who are questioning their sexual or gender identity. We provide a forum in which LGBT+ Catholics, those questioning their sexual or gender identity, and their friends, family and other allies, can encourage one another both in faith and in acceptance of each person’s unique identity. We organise a varied programme of meetings with a range of activities, providing spiritual nourishment and opportunities for social connection.

We also offer confidential support, information and signposting to Catholic family members of individuals identifying as LGBT+ or questioning their sexual or gender identity.

We are committed to working towards meeting the needs of all our neighbours by protecting our habitats and providing our generations to come with opportunities to develop better schools, better communities, and better futures in Christ.

As a Catholic community we believe that every person is created in the image of God and their life is worthy of intrinsic dignity. The effects of the environmental crisis we are all dealing with globally plays a huge role in the overall health of human beings as well as living conditions. Ignoring this would be disregarding the dignity of a human person. Therefore, it is our collective moral obligation to enhance human health and well-being by preventing the impact of climate change and improving the lives of all our neighbours within our local and global community.

The book of Genesis beautifully depicts our responsibility as stewards of the Earth. Our attitudes towards the environment and how we put them into practice have a direct impact on God’s creation, including the world’s most vulnerable species and their habitats. As an academy, we must protect God’s precious creation by promoting an eco-friendly mindset to provide better futures for our generations to come, so that they too can enjoy God’s gift and thrive to fulfil their God-given purpose. Education is key in enabling this to happen. To have better schools, better communities and better futures in Christ we must allow nature to thrive as well.

As a Catholic academy, it is our duty to develop and embed a sustainable whole school approach to meet our three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Good Health and Well-being
• Climate Change
• Zero Hunger.

By doing so, we can actively and truly practise the belief that ‘God has created each person to celebrate life to the full’ (John 10: 10).

Hexham Together for Ukraine is an initiative started in March 2022 by Dr Hanna Ruszczyk, Ariana (town counsellor) and Penny. They wanted to bring people together who are interested in helping refugees coming from the Ukraine. The objective is to set up a sustained and sustainable network of support for the guests and the hosts that will ensure that Hexham/Tynedale community can offer good and well-informed support on short, medium and long term. The hope is that eventually the support can be extended to asylum seekers and refugees who come from other parts of the world.