Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review Page 1
Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
John Coleby, Director of Caritas Westminster writes: Dear Friends, 2021 saw Caritas Westminster return to a “new normal”. Bakhita House is welcoming new guests. St Joseph’s is a Covid-safe space for its students. The Deaf Service has restarted its regular events in-person, and SEIDs is once again hiring out desks and rooms at its Wembley hub. Our Development Team are helping the projects we support to offer long term solutions to the communities they serve. Through our Road to Resilience programme, we have been encouraging the parishes and schools we work with to take this next step – building up a community of support with the people who rely on them for immediate help.
2021 also saw the launch of the global synod of the Catholic Church ask the question – who is included in our parish communities? How can we look beyond the Covid-19 crisis, the economic crisis, the refugee crisis, and see people with all their complex needs and unique gifts? Our shared challenge is to walk beside those on the margins and bring them into the centre.
John Coleby Director, Caritas Westminster
Working in partnership with local councils Caritas Westminster promoted two Vaccine Confidence webinars to raise awareness of the Covid-19 vaccination among all our communities. Medical professionals shared information on health and wellbeing, alongside Catholic Clergy.
Could your parish benefit from our Love In Action programme, introducing you to Catholic Social Teaching and discern your mission in your community? Go to www.stepforwardinlove.org
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Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Celebrating service Volunteering is an important part of the life of the diocese, from those serving coffee at parish events, to the many hundreds who give time to help build up their communities. During 2021 the work of volunteers was even more vital as they responded to the extra needs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. On 2 June Caritas Westminster hosted the first Diocese of Westminster Social Justice Awards evening. Thirty individuals and groups were nominated for awards. The five winners included volunteers at food banks run by two schools and one community group and “Auntie Muna”, an asylum seeker who has built up a strong and supportive community of refugees in the hostel where she lives. The final award recognised the emergency response team volunteering with the Jesuit Refugee Service, who distributed nearly 3000 parcels to refugees in the first 12 months of the pandemic.
Food Bank at the award winning St Philip Howard School
Caritas Volunteer Service Considering volunteering? Or looking for volunteers to help in your project? The Caritas Volunteer Service can help! Go to www.caritasvs.org.uk 1300 people have now signed up to Caritas Volunteer Service altogether, looking for voluntary positions, this includes 140 new sign-ups in 2021. 8 new charities, parishes or organisations have registered to post volunteering opportunities, bringing the total to 94 by the end of 2021.
Caritas Westminster was also the proud recipient of two awards during 2021 Caritas Bakhita House was awarded a True Honour Award from IKWRO (the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation) This acknowledged their work with women that have experienced many forms of harm, including “honour” based abuse. IKWRO were impressed by the family-like environment at Bakhita House, where the women are safe and secure and learn skills that will help them in their rehabilitation.
Sir Ken Olisa, Lord Lieutenant of London, who presented the award, with Meriel Woodward, Assistant Director of Caritas Westminster, and Pat Fernandes from our partner, Advice for Renters.
In November we received one of the London Faith & Belief community awards, for Community Resourcefulness in Response to Covid-19. This award recognised our Road to Resilience programme as bringing truly transformative, long-term solutions to help people who are using services such as food banks. Page 3
Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Recognising the Dignity of Work in the year 2021 was a year dedicated to St Joseph which we took as an opportunity to highlight the Catholic Social Teaching theme of Dignity of Work. We can only fully thrive when we can contribute to society and have our contribution fairly recognised. The guests at Caritas Bakhita House have been trafficked and enslaved – forced to work without dignity, without choice, and without reward. As part of their recovery they are often supported to find a decent job. One guest wrote of her experience working in a supermarket:
Work is the vocation of all men and women – but those who attend Caritas St Joseph’s often hear the opposite. As Gail Williams, the manager of St Joseph’s explained: “Those with intellectual and physical disabilities are one of the groups most marginalised by society, being excluded from the world of work and pushed to the edge of their local and faith communities.”
It is the first time in my life that they accept me in a job as I am, regardless of my physical appearance, it does not matter that I am fat or do not know how to speak English. For them I am worth it. I am a Person! Gone are the bad memories of the past in my country of origin, where in order to get a job, you not only had to hand over your body, but also your dignity Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to be part of this team, for having the patience to teach me … for accepting me for the person that I am ... The whole experience has been like an injection of self-esteem.
Guests from Bakhita House at a day trip to Virginia Water
Caritas Bakhita House was able to welcome new guests again this year. 16 new guests moved in, and 16 were able to move on. A total of 20 women were supported at Caritas Bakhita House in 2021. Volunteers generously donated 1,500 hours in 2021 During the pandemic, many moved online to continue interpreting and running classes for our guests.
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Students at St Joseph’s making garden furniture
Caritas St Joseph’s has set up a Gardening Enterprise enabling adults with intellectual disabilities to train as gardeners. Under the supervision of their tutor, they undertake all aspects of gardening and horticulture, drawing on all their senses to learn about the life cycles of a British garden throughout the year. Other students can also contribute to the Gardening Enterprise, for example those in the Horticulture course grow the plants needed and those learning ceramics and woodwork make planters and garden furniture. These students, who are not ready for work outside of the centre, can also get a sense of belonging within wider society.
136 students (adults with intellectual
disabilities) were attending the Caritas St Joseph’s Lifelong Learning Centre at the end of the year. We were able to re-open the “Connect@” Centres in Hounslow and Feltham, and have 15 students attending classes at Hounslow and 10 at Feltham.
Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
of St Joseph – patron saint of workers SEIDs, a project of Caritas Westminster, is a community space and Charity/ Social Enterprise hub based in Brent. SEIDs’ mission is to create decent and dignified work opportunities for people through self-employment. There are two strands to SEIDs’ current work – a free 12 month Start Up Business Programme and a commercial office space near Wembley stadium. The Start Up Business Programme supports individuals to develop the skills and confidence needed to develop their own business or social enterprise. Ariane, who finished the programme in March 2021, explains how it helped her grow her enterprise, Arianne Upreach In the Community, which provides tutoring and skills training to students who would not normally be able to access these.
Caritas Deaf Service organised 37 signed or sign-interpreted Masses and other liturgies, with thanks to the 7 priests in the diocese who have British Sign Language skills. Deaf Service staff members also provided interpretation at funerals, weddings and other events. Towards the end of the year in-person gatherings such as the retired people’s group and the Bible Study, were able to resume. Signs of Hope, the Deaf Counselling service, continues to be in demand. The work of the counselling service is both life changing and
“I’d been working on my business before I started at SEIDs – I’d done a lot of the prep work. The programme workshops helped me ask important questions – is my idea feasible? My projects and services are great, but are they fulfilling a need? Are they financially viable? When I joined the programme I needed something to provide me with a routine and some accountability in terms of pushing myself to where I wanted the business to be. I needed space to play around with ideas. I loved all the peer to peer elements – it was so lovely to have such a strong sense of community. So much of my problem solving was done pacing around the SEIDs kitchen talking with other members – it was a breath of fresh air!”
SEIDs 57 people benefitted from the SEIDs Start
Up Programme, across three cohorts which ran at different times of the year. 70% of programme participants were women from Black and Minority Ethnic groups. 12 people completed a pre-start up course run in partnership with the School of Social Entrepreneurs.
A member of the Community attending a signed Mass in Advent
lifesaving. Clients referred to the service can be at risk of suicide and self-harm and may well have already made attempts on their life. During 2021, 30 different clients received support from Signs of Hope.
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Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Stepping out on the Road to Resilience The Road to Resilience is a way to respond to local need, to help those who might become dependent on charity to become self-sufficient and resilient, to build collaboration between public services, charities and faith groups, and to develop projects that are transformative in their communities. The parishes, schools and community groups who have joined us on the Road to Resilience are part of a network where ideas and best-practice can be shared. By the end of the year 80 parishes, schools and community projects had engaged with the Road to Resilience. They may have:
• s ent representatives to a network meeting. We currently facilitate 4 networks – for people working at food projects; for people who work with those who are experiencing homelessness; for people who support refugees and migrants; and for people who work with seniors;
•m ade use of one of the resources produced
by the Development Team to help projects become more sustainable and build stronger communities;
• T aken part in expert training such as the Firm Foundations course
Throughout the pandemic, volunteers delivered food parcels to an average of 50 households each week in Hitchin and surrounding areas. But a desire to allow people to shop with freedom and dignity, led to the creation of the Hitchin Pantry. Opened in October and run by volunteers, members of this community supermarket can purchase a set number of food items for a fixed weekly price. A member and volunteer recently told us “It’s not just the food, it’s a place to come and have a cup of tea, chat, and just general kindness. There’s definitely a huge sense of community and friendship. You feel like somebody’s there to look out for you and help you.”
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Firm Foundations is a course run in partnership with Advice for Renters, giving volunteers and staff at projects such as food banks the skills to talk about money issues, including debt, and direct people to further sources of help. 14 people from 6 parishes and 5 schools took part in the programme and are now implementing what they have learnt within their communities. For example, Newman Catholic College in Brent hold drop-in coffee mornings where parents can come for basic advice or simply to be listened to.
Sadly, as the cost of living goes up, the “quick fixes” must continue. Caritas Westminster supplied 71 schools and parishes with supermarket vouchers to distribute to those who found themselves unable to purchase enough food. By the end of 2021, a total of 10,263 people from 3,164 households had received vouchers.
Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Welcoming those fleeing conflict and danger In August 2021 Caritas Westminster was asked by the Cardinal to lead and coordinate the response to the Afghan refugee situation as it evolved. Caritas Westminster works in partnership with a number of other agencies including Jesuit Refugee Service, SVP, and Reset, and we are a Community Sponsorship Lead Sponsor. Thanks to donations to the Cardinal’s Appeal we have been able to help the Notre Dame Refugee Centre provide English language lessons to refugees from Afghanistan. Our conviction that our faith teaches us to welcome with kindness anyone who has left their home to escape violence or persecution, led us to join the campaign against the Nationality and Borders Bill. We believe that this Bill will discriminate against the most vulnerable refugees coming to our shores, and make things harder for people escaping from human trafficking. Regretfully, at the time of going to press the Bill had just been passed by Parliament. Caritas Westminster will continue to work with others to promote a culture of compassion towards those seeking asylum.
Little Amal is a refugee child on a big journey. At 3.5 metres tall, Amal is not so little! She is a giant puppet who has travelled the world to highlight the plight of refugee children everywhere. On 25th October 2021 Little Amal was welcomed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols at Westminster Cathedral.
Caritas Grants have continued to support individuals and projects in Westminster diocese.
£99,372 was paid out from the St John Southworth Fund to 13 projects across
the diocese ranging from support for families unable to pay for school meals, homeless drop-in centres, befriending refugees, support groups for elderly people and the provision of knife amnesty bins at two parishes: St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green and St Mary and St Michael, Commercial Road.
£40,125.20 was paid out from the
St John Southworth Fund in crisis grants to 40 individuals and families who found themselves struggling,
£88,693 was paid out in funeral grants to 61 families, thanks to our benefactor who prefers to remain anonymous.
In November 2021 a new Caritas Westminster Project was launched in recognition of the importance of faith to those in our communities who have suffered from domestic abuse. Safe in Faith is developing a network of counsellors from all faiths who can support each other in their professional development in this area.
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Caritas Westminster 2021 Annual Review
Bakhita House Paintings The artwork on this page is by guests at Caritas Bakhita House and was displayed at BAFTA in September as part of an anti-trafficking film festival organised by RENATE, (Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation).
A rt and creativity touches a person’s whole being and for beautiful women who were deprived of being the unique and wonderful person they were created to be, art can be challenging. I helped them build their confidence by making personal choices. Art is all about choices, about techniques, styles, colours, forms, choice of materials, size and how much the person wishes to reveal. The results depend on the choices made. Sr Doreen, Art Therapist at Caritas Bakhita House 2015-2021
With thanks for the support of the Caritas Board: Bishop Paul McAleenan (Chair) David Barnes, Jasdeep Brar, Ruth Cairns, Paolo Camoletto, Alba de Souza, Pat Fernandes, Mick McAteer, Andrew Ndoca and Fr Mark Woodruff.
Contact us: twitter.com/CaritasWestm facebook.com/CaritasWestminster Instagram.com/caritas_westminster www.caritaswestminster.org.uk Page 8