Lenten Charity Projects 2010

7th February 2010

What are you and your Parish Group doing to fund-raise during Lent?

Lent begins in just over a week's time, on 17th February - Ash Wednesday. All parish groups and individual parishioners are asked to cooperate in raising funds for our two Lenten Charity Projects - for which the websites below give some suggestions and practical examples.

Our annual Lenten Charity Fayre is on Saturday 6th March (after the 6pm Mass) and Sunday 7th March (after the 9.30am & 11.30am Masses). Please contact Frank Keenan with your offers to run stalls for this event, and place donations of good saleable items in the coloured boxes at the regular drop-off point in the Pastoral Centre corridor.

Please email the Parish Office THIS WEEK (by Friday 12th February) with your proposals for sonsored events and other fund-raising occasions so that these do not bunch-up or conflict, but can be organised to spread over the five weeks of Lent.

All Lenten fund-raising events for our two Charities end by Easter Day - Sunday 4th April.

HCPT

Many parishioners will already be familiar with the work of the HCPT (founded as the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust). One of our Lenten projects will be to support HCPT's Shower Hosanna House with Love campaign. Hosanna House, situated in Bartres just outside Lourdes has catered for young people and adults with special needs for over 30 years. It gives them the opportunity to experience a pilgrimage to Lourdes in a safe and caring environment. Since it opened Hosanna House has welcomed over 70,000 visitors.

However, the premises now require an urgent upgrade to ensure it meets all relevant health and safety standards. Bedrooms and bathrooms will all be refurbished to provide a fresh, clean feel. This work will safeguard future generations of pilgrims and give a more pleasurable experience to those visiting. The cost is estimated to be at least £250,000, so our help is much needed!

Read more about HCPT and its work at www.hcpt.org.uk.

Mary's Meals

Whereas HCPT primarily assists British pilgrims, the work of Mary's Meals is directed at numerous countries overseas. Mary's Meals grew from the initiative of two Catholic brothers, Magnus and Fergus MacFarlane-Barrow. Back in 1992 they were so moved by the devastation caused by the conflict in Bosnia that they organised a special appeal for blankets, delivering the aid in person. This proved to be a life-changing experience, which eventually led Magnus to devote all his energies to the relief of suffering.

Mary's Meals originated in 2002 in Malawi, when Magnus met a mother dying of AIDS on the floor of her hut, surrounded by 6 young children. She said all that was left for her was to pray that someone might look after the children when she had died. When Magnus asked her oldest son what he hoped for in life, he replied simply: To have enough to eat and to go to school one day. Thus Mary's Meals was born. It aims to provide chronically hungry children with one meal a day in school. In this way the children are encouraged to gain an education that can lift them out of poverty in later life.

It costs only £6.15 to feed one child for a whole year. Read more about the work of Mary's Meals - including their current role in Haiti - at www.marysmeals.org.