Caritas Westminster Annual Review 2022

Love- the meaning of our existence

Dear Friends,

In an address recently to the General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis Pope Francis observed; “Charity – caritas – is our very life; it is what makes us “be” what we are. When we embrace God’s love and when we love one another in him, we plumb the depths of our identity, as individuals and as Church, and the meaning of our existence.”

In 2022: 24 women found refuge at Caritas

Bakhita House

16 Ukrainian families were awarded small grants to help them buy winter clothes, school uniforms and other essentials

177 students with intellectual disabilities attended classes at Caritas St Joseph’s 128 schools and parishes in Westminster diocese received supermarket vouchers to distribute to people struggling with the cost of living.

We would like to thank the following organisations who have helped us to achieve our mission in 2022, alongside many other groups and individuals, too many to mention!

Caritas Social Action Network

Mayday Trust

Cardinal Hume Centre

Upper Room

Advice4Renters

Notre Dame Refugee Centre

Compassionate Communities

This Annual Review presents many life-giving charitable activities taking place across the Diocese.

The staff and volunteers at our services continually seek ways to expand their outreach and effectiveness. The social action projects throughout the Diocese bring hope, inspiration and a sense of belonging.

In various ways parishes and schools live out their mission of charity in their neighbourhood. Each act conveys the message: every individual is important, included and loved. Where there is a need Caritas is also present, supporting and enabling communities in their endeavours.

In this review you will see how Caritas Westminster provides opportunities for positive action. People’s situations are being transformed, their immediate needs are relieved and above all, the love of God and our neighbour, which is at the heart of our Faith, is being expressed.

St Mary’s University

The Irish Chaplaincy

Word4Weapons

Jesuit Refugee Service

Jewish Volunteering Network

Sisters of the Assumption, Kensington Square

Notre Dame University - London Gateway

Christians Against Poverty

The Metropolitan Police

The Faith and VAWG Coalition

Not forgetting:

All those who volunteer at our services or in parishes, schools and projects – nothing could be achieved without you.

All who donate to Caritas Westminster directly or through the Cardinal’s Appeal – you allow all the work to happen.

All who remember us in their prayers – we are blessed and strengthened daily.

To donate to the work of Caritas Westminster go to rcdow.org.uk/donations/caritas-westminster or call 0207 798 9351

Bishop Paul with asylum seekers at Napier Barracks

Bishop Paul McAleenan, Chair of Caritas

Outreach – listening and responding to need

Responding to the rising cost of living

Seeing communities already hit hard by Covid and existing structural injustices, now struggling with the rising cost of living, our response was to inform and empower staff and volunteers in parishes, schools and projects, linking them up with organisations offering specialist advice and support.

Early in 2022 twelve Money Champions, from eight parishes and schools, completed the Firm Foundations programme - financial capability training which we ran in partnership with Advice 4 Renters.

The Money Champions are taking action depending on their community’s needs. People who contact the parish in Waltham Cross seeking help are referred to their two Money Champions for assistance in creating budgets or accessing food banks and guidance on charities providing fuel poverty support.

Our Firm Foundations in a Cost of Living Crisis conference in November allowed 56 people from parishes, schools, SVP conferences and projects across the Diocese to learn more about how they could support their communities. They heard from the organisations mentioned above and others including Stop Loan Sharks, Community Money Advice and Acts 435.

By the end of the year, twenty-one parishes and three projects had responded to a call to run ‘Warm Spaces’ in their centres, open to members of the local community, and offering refreshments, and, in some cases, a hot meal. Twenty of them applied for a small grant from Caritas to go towards the heating, refreshments and other costs.

Glen is a parishioner at St Paul the Apostle in Wood Green and uses a wheelchair. During the winter of 2022-23, he came every Wednesday to the Warm Space run by the St Vincent De Paul group with funding from a special Caritas Grant.

Money champions in schools have been putting information in their newsletters and having conversations with parents. One teacher told us: “The session on loan sharks was a real eye opener and I have been able to share that information with individuals who have been victims of such unlawful dealings.”

Meanwhile, aware of the impending increase in energy bills, we worked with Pat Fernandes from Advice 4 Renters, Green Doctors and National Energy Action, to provide online training sessions in Managing Utilities. Once again, we invited people to attend on behalf of their communities, with whom they would share their learning.

“His journey was not easy,” reported the organisers of the Warm Space, “as he has quite a distance to travel by bus, but every Wednesday, shortly after opening time, he is there. Glen says he enjoys the company and that his Warm Space visit gives him a focus for his day. Ian joined us on our third week. He was just passing, saw the sign and popped in. At first, he was very reserved, but now he joins in with things, and keeps a quiet eye on Glen. Our volunteers gain much from the sessions too; they enjoy good company and learn from all the others who come to the Warm Space.”

Names have been changed

Money Champions from St Margaret Clitherow school, Neasdon, are now putting their training into practice

Warm space at St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green

Outreach – listening and responding to need

The Synodal Pathway – learning from each other

For Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Staines, the priorities which emerged from their synodal listening were poverty, inequality, the climate crisis, the role of women and inclusion of LGBTQ persons. The parish ran our Love in Action programme as a way of continuing and deepening the process.

‘A synodal church is a listening church, knowing that listening “is more than feeling.” It is a mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn.’

Through the synodal path, communities around the global Church have been gathering in prayer, open to the Spirit, to listen to each other without interruption. The questions were around Communion, Participation and Mission in the Church; What does it mean to journey together? What brings you joy? What brings you sadness? Who is missing?

The answers across the Diocese of Westminster resonated with responses from around the world: ‘For many, our diverse Church does not always feel like an inclusive Church. Not everyone is valued: Women, Young people, those who are LGBT+, those with disabilities, people who are deaf, those on the peripheries and those whom society may “outcast”.’

It is through dialogue that we move to greater understanding and empathy, and a shared journey. Caritas Westminster is supporting communities to respond to what they have heard. We provide formation in Catholic Social Teaching through the Love in Action programme in parishes and the Caritas Ambassador programme in schools. (see page 23) These encourage wider and deeper listening to people on the margins, and lead to action that brings about fuller inclusion.

Love in Action is designed to introduce a parish to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). For six weeks, different principles are embedded in the Sunday liturgy, with take-home materials and activities to deepen reflection through the week. After this, parishioners reflect on the needs of their community and consider starting or reinforcing their own social outreach projects.

– Pope Francis

All were VIPs entering Mass that Sunday

Throughout the programme in Staines, there was an emphasis on welcoming and including. For example, on the first Sunday, when Dignity was the theme, parishioners entered church via a red carpet and a floral arch!

Children were included, as the parish primary school also took part in Love in Action. Pupils in year 5 have started on the road to becoming Caritas Ambassadors. At Mass on Sundays, they saw the Eucharistic Bears, which are awarded to the child who has been most attentive, dressed in the colour matching the theme of the week. The social action which resulted from the parish’s experience with Love in Action has also served to, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “widen the space of their tent.”

Outreach – listening and responding to need

Gresham Junction, the community café already run by the parish, expanded. In the winter it developed into a Warm Space and saw a greater cross-section of the local community dropping in. Coffee mornings for parents and carers of children with special educational needs also began and are open to anyone, not just parishioners.

Read more about Warm Spaces on page 3

Parish Priest Fr Philip Dyer-Perry said, “Love in Action was a great way of challenging the parish community to reflect on those final words of Mass ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord’… This was a huge opportunity to put words (and The Word) into action – it was exciting to see our focus change – and some recognition that we can’t simply expect ‘the Church’ to do things, as WE are the Church and it’s up to us to get on with it!”

Love in Action is suitable for parishes at every stage of the Social Outreach journey – wherever you are, it can help you take the next steps towards putting your Christian faith and love into practice in your community. Find out more at www.stepforwardinlove.org.uk

Parishes within Westminster Diocese can request support from Caritas Westminster as you go through the programme.

At the time of the Synodal process, Caritas Westminster’s services supported those we serve to have their voices heard. Caritas Deaf Service facilitated members of the Deaf community to contribute, whilst Caritas St Joseph’s ensured that students with intellectual disabilities could take part.

They adapted the synod materials into visual images that the students could better engage with.

The Changing Face of Food Relief

“Thanks so much for giving us the Tesco vouchers. It makes an incredible difference to our family, at a time when we are experiencing struggles and with the cost of food going up. It means our children are eating nutritious food and they can focus better at school.”

– Family who received vouchers through their school Food banks are still playing a vital role in the diocese providing emergency food, for example, while a family waits for a benefit to begin to be paid, or to support working people on low incomes.

Instead of being phased out as planned, Caritas’s Emergency Supermarket Voucher Scheme that was established during Covid, now forms part of our response to the cost of living crisis.

See page 3 for other ways we have responded. 128 schools and parishes in Westminster diocese received vouchers to distribute in 2022, and they have also been made available through the Caritas Deaf Service. In total, between 2020 and 2022, over 17,000 people have been supported from over 5000 households.

50% of parishes and schools who were in the voucher programme in 2022 have shown interest in our resilience-focused activities, such as training courses on financial resilience or employment support. They are keen to do more to provide longer-term support in their communities.

In the meantime, the vouchers provide immediate help to people. For example, the children whose terminally ill mother has moved to a hospice, forcing their father to take extended time off work. Or the family who, despite both parents working, have only one bed which they all share. Or those who have simply been hit by rising costs and need the vouchers to enable them to pay their other bills.

People can use the supermarket vouchers for anything they choose, including clothes or a birthday treat for a child. This freedom allows families to carry on as normal and respects their dignity.

In addition, a new type of project is emerging –the community supermarket or pantry. Hitchin Pantry now has over 300 members who are able to pay £5 each week towards their choice of available groceries including fresh meat and luxury items like flowers.

The Stokey Community Food Shop in Stoke Newington offers a wide range of foods from different cultures to suit their 130 members. People pay a weekly amount, depending on what they can afford, and appreciate the normality of selecting their chosen items from the shelves.

At Caritas we know that access to good food is about much more than nutrition. Food projects can

restore dignity and strengthen communities. And the Food team at Caritas is here to provide support to the over 200 food projects that exist in the Diocese.

Shopping at the Hitchin Pantry

A wide variety of fruit and veg is available at Stokey Community Food Shop.

Liliya, a Ukrainian volunteer at the Hitchin Pantry

Outreach – listening and responding to need

A Positive Approach to Homelessness

“This approach will support better outcomes for the individual, the approach focuses on the individual’s strengths, hopes and aspirations not just focusing on the negatives. The sector has for far too long focused on what people can’t do rather than what people can do, and I believe this approach has contributed to people becoming entrenched, unable to move-on out of homelessness.”

– Attendee of training provided by Mayday Trust Homeless projects in the diocese are becoming more effective at helping people transform their lives, thanks to a new partnership between Caritas Westminster and Mayday Trust. Through our network, we have been able to share insights from experts and provide training on the “Strengths Based Approach” – a transformative way of walking alongside homeless people, looking positively at the skills and ambitions they have and recognising that their difficulties often stem from past traumas that were beyond their control.

The Caritas Westminster Homeless Network comprises of 38 organisations: 24 parish-run projects and 14 established charities.

17 people from 11 homeless projects have attended at least one session of Strengths Based Approach training. “[We are] already seeing progress with their lives. I have learnt so much about the people we see by focusing on their strengths not their weaknesses, I strongly believe their future is a better one when using their strengths and focusing on these rather than their failures.”

Bikes for Cardinal Pole

A Caritas Westminster Development Worker is well placed to make advantageous connections in the deaneries where they work. Our Development Worker in East London, Minet Masho, heard about a bike project that the Stoke Newington Police were running, and made the link with a local Catholic Secondary school. The project donates unclaimed stolen bikes to young people who are at risk of falling into crime.

Twelve pupils from Cardinal Pole School took part in the scheme during the Easter holidays in 2022. The project included a bike maintenance course, and the youngsters worked

hard to ensure that their bikes were in working condition and looked good too. They were very pleased with their bikes and said they would encourage their peers to take part if they got the chance.

The project helped keep the young people occupied during the holidays and gave them a chance to speak to the Police Youth Engagement officers about any issues that might affect them, including knife crime, stop and search, drugs, county lines and family problems.

Cardinal Pole were pleased to receive this support for their students and to encourage cycling as part of their Environmental programme. For Caritas Westminster, it is simply another way we can respond to local opportunities that benefit disadvantaged communities.

– Attendee of training provided by Mayday Trust

Liz Wills, Our lead on homelessness, together with some of our partners and people with lived experience, held a panel debate on learnings from the pandemic in March 2022.

Outreach – listening and responding to need

A fast changing scene of migration and refugee policy

Whilst thousands of people were opening their doors to people seeking sanctuary from the war in Ukraine, the British Government was looking for ways to close the door on people travelling to the UK in small boats across the Channel.

Working with other Catholic groups –promoting Homes for Ukraine.

In response to the war in Ukraine, we developed the Diocesan Hosting Community of Support in partnership with other organisations and ran Hosting Information Sessions with the Jesuit Refugee Service for people who were either hosting or interested in hosting with Homes for Ukraine.

The event included powerful talks from the Anglican Bishops of Stepney and Southwark, and Paul McAleenan, Bishop of Westminster diocese, pictured here alongside Maimuna Jawo, winner of a Diocese of Westminster Volunteering Award 2021, who gave her personal testimony on life as an asylum seeker.

Working Ecumenically – Stories of Welcome

Caritas Westminster has been working with the Anglican Dioceses of London and Southwark to celebrate the welcome that London churches of all denominations offer to people seeking sanctuary. We produced five short films of projects across the Dioceses, a booklet and an infographic explaining the asylum process. On Monday 20 June, in refugee week, we took part in a celebration of the mission and duty of welcome at Farm Street Church in Mayfair.

Speaking out for the rights of migrants

“Welcoming and supporting refugees is derived from what we believe, our Faith. Made in the image and likeness of God, human beings have an infinite worth. Attitudes which undermine their value need to be challenged. Unfortunately those same attitudes can be enshrined in policy. Anything that impinges upon the humanity of refugees has to be resisted.”

Caritas Westminster encourages Catholics to speak out against the Government’s hostile policies on migration. For example, the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and other legislation being proposed, discriminates against those who claim asylum after coming by socalled “illegal” routes. We believe the Government needs to address three main issues:

• The asylum system should never penalise people on the basis of how they arrive in the UK. Most refugees have no choice of how they travel.

• Asylum claimants should have safe and dignified accommodation within British communities.

• The best way to prevent dangerous sea crossings is to greatly expand safe routes for refugees to come to the UK.

Caritas Grants were given to 16 Ukrainian families in London, helping them buy winter clothes and shoes, household goods, school uniforms, travel cards, phone top-ups, and other items to support with training, job prospects and children’s homework

– Bishop Paul McAleenan, Refugee Week 2022

Fighting Knife Crime

Caritas Westminster supports parishes and schools in the diocese in the way most suited to their needs as they work to improve the lives of people in their communities. For many, knife crime and youth violence remain priorities. Police in London recorded over 11,000 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in the twelve months up to March 2022.

Word 4 Weapons is a leading UK weaponssurrender charity. As well as setting up knife bins, they also offer education and resources for young people and youth workers.

449 knives, one gun and 43 other weapons (kitchen and DIY tools) were found by Word4Weapons in our five knife bins. Each knife taken off the streets is one less chance of an injury or death, or of a life devastated by crime.

Caritas Grants

In 2022, we continued our partnership with Word4Weapons who installed knife amnesty bins at two parishes. The bin at St Paul the Apostle in Wood Green was blessed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols as the parish marked its 140th anniversary and 50 years of the current church building, in January.

The second knife bin was installed in February at St Mary & St Michael in Tower Hamlets. This was blessed by Bishop Nicholas Hudson at a ceremony attended by young people from the nearby Bishop Challoner School.

Raymond, who was head boy of the school at the time said: “The blessings of the knife bin showed me the beauty that occurs when a community comes together from all backgrounds to solve such a significant problem that is violence against all people, to protect ourselves and the potential victims”.

In response to the Cost of Living Crisis, we provided special “Warm Welcome Grants” (see page 3) 19 grants of £1000 and one grant of £800 were provided to parishes and one community project in 2022 and the start of 2023.

16 charities and school and parish projects received Project Grants, usually £10,000 (total donated in project grants: £143,470.00).

42 individuals or families were given crisis grants, after being referred by their parish or a charity such as the SVP, with the total distributed being £39,707.00. And 43 bereaved families were supported with funeral costs of up to £1,500 (total distributed £59,727.09) thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

Bishop Hudson speaking to the Headteacher and Head boy of Bishop Challoner school

Caritas Westminster manages the St John Southworth Fund

Cardinal blesses new Knife Bin at St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green

© Mazur/cbcew.org.uk

Building networks – transforming communities

We want to live in communities that are strong, resilient and thriving, where the most vulnerable feel included and everyone has enough to eat. During the cost of living crisis, many people have been putting love into action by opening food banks and other outreach projects.

The Caritas Development Team have been working with food projects in schools and parishes to encourage a transformation from purely giving a hand-out to a ‘hand-up’.

Caritas Westminster has brought together project leaders from Food projects, as well as Homeless, Refugee and Senior projects across the Diocese of Westminster in Networks, so that they can share best practice, discuss common problems and join voices to campaign for policy change. We have learnt from experts of lived experience.

Wonderful things have been happening in White City in the past few years, as the Parish has made its presence felt in one of the most deprived areas of West London.

It was Lent 2020, when Parish Priest, Fr Richard Nesbitt began leading Our Lady of Fatima Parish on our Love in Action programme. A few weeks later the country went into lockdown and churches were closed.

The programme stopped, but the love-in-action grew. The parish began to host a foodbank which still serves up to 100 people each week.

As a very diverse parish community, they responded to the death of George Floyd in 2020 with a process of listening, reflecting and working to root out racism.

In 2021 three parishioners took part in Caritas Westminster’s Firm Foundations training for Money Champions. With funding from the St John Southworth Fund the parish now employs a Community Support Worker. They have also received a Cafod Live Simply award for their environmental projects.

In the networks we have challenged our understanding of society by asking why people are struggling. Too many are let down by the system – falling through the gaps in the safety net. We need to raise awareness of this through the church, to discern how to respond, and work together to make changes.

Project leaders and volunteers also received expert training in Financial Resilience and Employability. They can now provide people in their communities with the information they need to apply for benefits entitled to them, avoid loan sharks, apply for grants, and empower them to secure meaningful work.

We have been collecting data and stories which we can share to raise awareness and understanding within the Catholic Church, and with the Church we will fight for policy change and social. If this results in less need for foodbanks, that will make us happy.

They re-started the Love in Action programme, and in May 2022 held a Commitment Weekend, during which more than eighty parishioners signed up for a whole range of roles for service in parish life. Many are now active as readers, in the tech team, musicians, gardeners and volunteers with the food project.

Our Lady of Fatima Parish is becoming a real community hub, and we are sure there is a lot more yet to come.

Supporting and Celebrating Volunteering

The Caritas Volunteer Service supports and celebrates volunteering across the diocese, and the highlight of 2022 was the Diocese of Westminster ‘Love in Action’ Volunteering Awards in November.

These were the first awards that were presented in person, at an event at Westminster Cathedral Hall, with Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Bishop Paul McAleenan presenting the trophies.

Over seventy nominations were received in six categories and eleven winners were selected, recognising individuals and teams of volunteers. The range of nominations highlighted the breadth of Social Action going on across the diocese, including community-building activities within parishes, commitment to the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, working with people experiencing homelessness, and supporting individuals in crisis through one-to-one mentoring.

Closing the evening Bishop Paul thanked all the volunteers who “have displayed and participated in love in action precisely by using the heart that God has given to us.” He continued, “Our human love is expressing God’s love for all of us.”

The Caritas Volunteer Service website allows parishes, charities and local projects in need of volunteers to link with people who have time and talents to share. Supporting this, we hold regular in-person and online information events to promote volunteering.

In 2022:

171 volunteer applications were made through the website.

155 volunteering opportunities from 52 member organisations were listed.

92 people attended the Caritas Volunteer Service Volunteering Fair in March 2022. 17 charities had stalls at the fair to promote opportunities available for volunteers.

Volunteer Service – available to support parishes.

Many parishes rely on a small group of people to keep things “ticking over” but the synodal process showed that there is a desire to see more active and welcoming parishes, and to rebuild community life after the pandemic. Our Volunteer Service has developed a range of resources to help parishes encourage a broader and deeper involvement, including posters and a template for a webpage on which they can list their volunteering vacancies. Contact the Volunteer Service to find out more: email cvs@rcdow.org.uk

The Cardinal meets some of the young volunteers at the awards evening

© Mazur/cbcew.org.uk

A Brief History of our Services and

In 2022 Caritas Westminster marked ten years of service within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.

We were established in 2012, after Pope Benedict XVI’s encouragement for all dioceses to set up a branch of Caritas, during his visit to the UK in 2010. Our vision for a society where all people can live a life of dignity and worth and develop their full potential, remains the same. Changing political and economic situations, including the disruption of the Covid pandemic, have only strengthened our resolve.

Here we look back over some of the milestones of the last ten years – and more.

1930s – The Caritas Deaf Service has its origins in the first half of the 20th century.

1977 – St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre (now Caritas St Joseph’s) opens for people with intellectual disabilities.

January 2001 – Signs of Hope, a counselling service for the Deaf Community, launches.

May 2012

Caritas Westminster is established to build upon and strengthen Social Action in the diocese.

September 2010 – Pope Benedict

XVI visits the UK and inspires the creation of Caritas Westminster

July – September 2013

Archbishop Vincent Nichols visits our first projects: Borehamwood Foodbank; “Contact the Elderly” in Palmers Green; and a school breakfast club in Tower Hamlets.

June 2015

Caritas Bakhita House opens for women who have been trafficked or enslaved.

November 2014

Our first Development Worker starts supporting parishes in St Albans and Watford Deaneries.

June 2016

The Volunteer Service website begins linking volunteers with organisations in need of people-power. The volunteer service also runs events to encourage volunteering.

Cardinal visits Magic Breakfast

Volunteer Service refugee volunteer evening

and Projects

December 2016

Love in Action launches to make Catholic Social Teaching better known in our parishes and to inspire action.

June 2017

Caritas Westminster was able to respond to the tragic fire that destroyed Grenfell Tower in North Kensington. A grant was provided through the St John Southworth Fund.

August 2017

The first Syria Summer Camp was held at Newman Catholic College in Brent –these are now held annually and help refugee children integrate and settle better into their new schools.

October 2019 and February 2020

Caritas Food Collective runs holiday clubs, with fun for children, support for parents and plenty of food.

April 2020

In response to Covid, we begin distributing supermarket vouchers, to be distributed by schools and parishes. This project is extended in 2022, in response to the rising cost of living.

November 2020

The “Road to Resilience” programme starts supporting projects to move beyond “hand-outs” to “hand-ups”.

April 2021

Caritas St Joseph’s gained funding to provide tablet computers to 33 students to help them remain connected with family and friends during the pandemic.

November 2021

Safe in Faith launches to offer faith-based counselling to victims of domestic abuse.

September 2018

SEIDs is launched to provide training, and a physical hub, to people setting up social enterprises.

September 2022

Imagining Futures begins encouraging school children to express their vision for the future and take practical action.

Love in Action (photo of LiA display from 2020 White City).

Syria Summer Camp (photo from 2021)

2018 launch of SEIDs © Tom Smart photography

2019 Caritas Food Collective Holiday Club

2020 St PHilip Howard school foodbank

2021 Covid - St Joseph’s tablets

A Therapeutic and Caring Road to Independence

Caritas Bakhita House provided a refuge and a place to start a journey of recovery to 24 women who escaped trafficking and slavery during 2022. Guests have experienced many forms of exploitation and abuse, but the majority come from situations of sexual exploitation or domestic servitude .

Since the service opened in 2015: 170 women have stayed at Bakhita House, from 46 countries.

13 babies have been born to women staying with us.

We have helped secure prison sentences totalling 147 years and 10 months for those who traffic and exploit women.

Volunteers generously donated 2,000 hours in 2022 – with their support, our guests were able to take part in therapeutic activities and gain life skills.

One of the charity’s founders, Carolyn Thom, explains how it all began when she was volunteering at a safe house supported by the Salvation Army.:

“I was asked to find some toiletries for two new arrivals. As I started to search through a big box of toiletries, I came across an assortment of items, partially used shampoos, hand creams that were so old that they had congealed, odd toothbrushes that had lost their wrapping.

I remember thinking that these two women who were expected at the safehouse would have experienced the worst of humanity, suffered unimaginable things. Surely they deserved better. One of these women could have been my sister, my daughter, my best friend, I needed to show in a tangible way that people cared for them and most importantly give them a radical welcome.”

Toiletries and beauty products – helping restore self-esteem.

Each new guest at Caritas Bakhita House finds a welcome basket in their bedroom, containing toiletries and cosmetics, some of which have been donated by schools and parishes in the diocese.

The baskets are put together by Their Voice, a charity which provides practical and emotional support for survivors of trafficking and slavery. The provide welcome baskets to seven safehouses in London, Surrey and Kent.

Carolyn sources donations of new toiletries, and ensures the baskets look like a gift, and not a hand-out. They include different products to suit the needs of guests from different cultures and come with a little welcome card written in eight languages. One survivor commented that seeing the card written in her native language made her feel welcomed into the safehouse.

The baskets also contain lipsticks, nail polishes and perfumes, helping women take an interest in their appearance, and start their personal journey of restoring their self-esteem.

In November 2022, Caritas Bakhita House received one of the London Faith and Belief Community Awards, which celebrate how Londoners from all faiths and beliefs can work together for a fairer and more inclusive city.

The Power of Education

The right to education is fundamental for everyone. However, survivors of modern slavery face substantial obstacles when trying to access education. Horizon Summer School was designed for survivors of modern slavery by the Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse at St Mary’s University. Feedback showed that the course had a significant impact on students’ mental health helping to alleviate isolation and promote positive thinking. Bakhita House guests were among those on the course.

“Before I started summer school, I was not okay at all, honestly…, my mind was not settled… I’ve been in my room crying, I had nothing to do just sit here thinking, but when I heard that I have the summer school to go to, and when I get there, meet friends, my teachers, they are so good, so friendly, I cannot wait to go. Everybody, even in my house, told me: you have changed. They do not see me at home all the time. So that is good.”

“At the beginning, I was scared because I had been through a lot and I had been out of education for a lengthy time. However, the encouragement and guidance offered by the team at Caritas Bakhita House gave me a chance to study. Education has given me a bit of my life back.

“As an asylum seeker, and especially as a victim of modern slavery, many times one feels like a second class citizen. Nevertheless, education opens up your mind and then doors that lessen the confinement.”

“During my time with you, you taught me something very important. That I deserve it and I should be proud of myself…I will never forget how much you [Bakhita House] helped me to become the woman I am today. That, without you, I don’t know what my life would be.”

We celebrate all the achievements of guests and former guests of Bakhita House, and were particularly excited when in 2022 two former guests were awarded university degrees.

– Survivor who attended Horizon Summer School

- Guest who was awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Criminology

- Guest who was awarded an Upper SecondClass Honours Degree in Accounting and Finance

© Elena Heatherwick

© Elena Heatherwick

Seeing as Jesus sees

St Joseph’s is Caritas Westminster’s service for adults and children with intellectual disabilities and their families, although it pre-dates the existence of Caritas Westminster by some 35 years.

Opened in 1977 by Cardinal Basil Hume, St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre in Hendon was established by Fr David Wilson to realise his vision that those with intellectual disabilities can access their faith through symbols instead of verbal or written language. Fr Wilson and his team adapted a method of catechesis which originated in Chicago, known as SPRED – the Special Programme for Religious Education, and began supporting the faith development of children with learning disabilities.

Volunteer Ron Palmer has been the service’s book-keeper since 1984 and is now 103 years old! We believe he is the oldest volunteer in the diocese. He was a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award at the Diocese of Westminster Love in Action volunteering Awards in November.

Subsequent directors introduced workshops for adults with learning disabilities, and this grew to be the main activity at the centre in Hendon, now a Lifelong Learning Centre, as well as at two hubs in Feltham and Hounslow. The training of symbolic catechesis is no less important, with hundreds of volunteers across the diocese able to help young people with intellectual disabilities to develop in their faith. In addition, there is outreach into parishes, such as the support of Saturday Clubs, and support for carers and parents as they navigate the world of disability benefits and entitlements.

“St Joseph’s isn’t just a place in Hendon, it is a way of looking at the World as Jesus looked at the world. It is a way of looking at the world so that everyone can reach their potential and be the person God intended them to be.”

Bishop Paul McAleenan speaking at a Mass celebrating St Joseph’s 45th anniversary, in October 2022.

In 2022:

Students attending the lifelong Learning centre in Hendon rose from 150 to 177, meaning all classes were full at the end of the year.

27 students are registered at the Connect@ centres, 15 in Hounslow and 12 in Feltham.

The diverse range of classes at the three centres included music and dance, IT skills, gardening, painting and pottery, Tai Chi, cooking, and a book club.

“I love my classes very much, I Love dancing”

- Andy

As part of the work programme, the gardening service took three volunteers to work in gardens across the diocese, learning horticulture skills on the job.

St Joseph’s continued its support for Saturday Clubs at 6 parishes in the diocese.

“My hands get dirty but I like the pottery class”

- Francis

9 Symbols of Faith courses were run to train priests and catechists in using symbolic catechesis to enable children with intellectual disabilities to grow in their faith and receive the sacraments.

Gail Williams, manager of Caritas St Joseph’s, frequently shares her expertise with others walking alongside those with intellectual disabilities in the Catholic church. In 2022 she visited Scotland and Italy to share her knowledge at conferences.

We celebrated Caritas St Joseph’s 45th anniversary at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 8 October. An estimated 150 people connected with St Joseph’s attended Saturday’s celebration, including past and present staff and students, as well as priests who have been involved in this work.

“Yoga helps me stretch, it’s so nice to stretch”

- Anisha

“Bocce class is great. I like throwing the balls, close to the white ball. I like playing with my team”

–

Kadr

“I look forward to the book club every week and I can see my friends and I love having a chat.”

– Barbara

A student at Caritas St Joseph’s book club.

Putting the Deaf Community at the Centre

Caritas Deaf Service has been part of the Diocese of Westminster since 1976 and was incorporated into Caritas Westminster when it was launched in 2012. However, the Deaf Community’s history with Westminster Cathedral goes back to at least the 1930s. In 2022, the Deaf Service:

Organised 39 signed or sign-interpreted Masses

Provided pastoral support with clients on nearly 400 occasions

Spent 112 hours preparing and delivering catechesis in British Sign Language (BSL)

215 students attended BSL taster or Deaf Awareness courses

7 priests in the diocese have signing skills suitable for celebrating the sacraments

Signs of Hope, the Deaf counselling service run by Caritas Deaf Service, provided over 300 sessions of counselling

As for many Catholics in the country in 2022, the tour of the relics of St Bernadette was a highlight for the Deaf Community. Deaf people attended the opening Mass when the relics arrived at Westminster Cathedral and the anointing service there a few days later, both of which services were interpreted in BSL for the attendees. Others took the opportunity to venerate the relics before the regular monthly signed Mass at the Cathedral.

On Sunday 30th October, amid beautiful autumn colours and bright sunshine, a group of Deaf people joined many other pilgrims who had come to venerate the relics of St Bernadette in Aylesford in Kent. They travelled on a fully accessible coach, so that those with additional access needs were able to fully take part. One person commented: “It was the first time I have been on an accessible coach, because I need to use a wheelchair, and it meant everything to me because I had a life changing accident a year ago…”

Bishop Paul Hendricks celebrated the midday Mass outdoors in the Shrine and welcomed everyone with a special mention for the Deaf Community. His homily reflected on Lourdes, Our Lady and St Bernadette. He said, “Lourdes is where we get it right” and continued that Lourdes is a place where those on the margins of society are the most important and are rightly central to all the proceedings. Maybe that is a lesson for all of us, if those on the margins of society are at the very heart of everything in Lourdes, then why not in our parishes?

The day continued after lunch with a visit to the relics of St Bernadette. A gentle walk through the rosary garden led the group into the relic chapel, where each one had time to pray and just to be there and hold that precious moment. Candles lit, petitions written, and with a memento in the form of a small bottle of Lourdes water and a prayer card, they headed out into the afternoon sunshine for a quick cup of tea before heading back home.

Members of the Deaf Community at Aylesford, venerating the relics of St Bernadette

Raising awareness

In 2022 we re-started our Deaf Awareness and BSL courses.

We are blessed with seven clergy who celebrate Mass for the Deaf Community and we continue to support them to develop their signing skills. Our grateful thanks are extended to Bishop Paul McAleenan, Canon Shaun Lennard, Canon Norbert Fernandes, Fr Keith Stoakes, Fr Willie Skehan, Fr Paulo Bagini and Fr Brian O’Mahony. Two other priests have started to learn to sign with the hope that they can in the future celebrate the sacraments for the Deaf Community.

Towards the end of 2022, for the first time in many years, we began teaching BSL and liturgical sign language at Allen Hall seminary, and we now have three seminarians reaching the end of their first BSL course.

We have also visited schools and parishes with Deaf Awareness sessions. We ran an awareness session for the Year 12 students at Finchley Catholic High School, taught the teachers at Douay Martyrs, Ickenham, how to sign the Hail Mary and the pupils at St Edmund’s School, Whitton, to sign a song for their Advent assembly.

“Thank you for inspiring our children and for sorting out the signing at our school…this morning’s Advent Assembly was fabulous … the parents loved it.”

BSL Act 2022

A major breakthrough for the rights of users of British Sign Language was the British Sign Language Act, which achieved Royal Assent on 28 April and came into force on 28 June.

This Act enshrines the status of British Sign Language as a legal language in England, Wales and Scotland and commits the Government to reporting on their progress in enabling communications with BSL users.

This was an important step towards equality for Deaf BSL users in the UK and was a cause for celebration at Caritas Westminster.

Top right: Francis, above: Thomas and Paolo, from Allen Hall seminary, on completing their BSL taster course.

Nurturing Businesses for Good

Seeds Hub (formerly SEIDs) works with people who have an idea for a charity, social enterprise or business for good that they’d like to get off the ground.

In the heart of Brent, five minutes’ walk from Wembley Stadium, Seeds offers office space and conference facilities for charities and social enterprises, supporting them to grow and flourish. At the end of 2022 there were eight paying tenants using the Seeds Hub building. Two new offices were created at the Hub in 2022, which is helping create a community for small businesses to come together and to support one another.

In 2022, eighteen people participated in our 12-month Start-Up Business Programme and fourteen of them completed it. The online workshops covered social media, funding, mental health, Cobra database, finance and marketing. Volunteer mentors helped the participants with their business plans and guided them along their journeys. Participants also had access to a desk at the Hub throughout the duration of the programme.

Working with people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the resources, networks or funding to get their idea off the ground, Seeds Hub has supported over one hundred businesses over the past three years, including a music school for children with special educational needs, a creative craft for carers business and a support service for Romanian women who have experienced domestic violence.

“I’m a carer for my son who’s 20. We’re at the bottom of the pile in society. I’ve always wanted to do something with carers, I knew I was able to have a business, but I didn’t know how to structure it, how to get things done, and that’s what Seeds helped me with.

“I wanted to give carers an option of something they can do around their caring and possibly make money out of it, put it into a little business, but its something that’s flexible, something they can do in their own time.

“Although I am a carer and I work part time, I am able to take the Seeds mentoring programme on board. It moves you forward with all the different elements and at the end of the programme you can literally make a business. It’s made possible that I actually can help carers! Seeds is there to help the local community. Whatever you’re thinking about, whatever you wish to do, Seeds can make it a reality.”

Brenda Jules-Carbon (pictured) participated in the Seeds Programme in 2022 and has set up a social enterprise called Jul’Cii which works to set carers up with flexible and creative businesses. She runs different themed workshops for carers.

Speaking in the summer of 2022, Brenda told us about her vision and how Seeds helped her to achieve it:

Seeds’ office space

Safe in Faith

Safe in Faith was set up in November 2021 by Caritas Westminster and launched during the annual 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The aim is to facilitate trauma-informed support for survivors of domestic abuse and genderbased violence whose religious or spiritual needs have not been met by mainstream counselling and psychotherapy, or domestic abuse services. Many professionals and services are ill-equipped to meet survivors’ spiritual needs or understand the role that Faith can play in decisions about safety seeking or the journey of healing. At the same time, Faith leaders often lack training to provide safe and knowledgeable support.

Safe in Faith’s first year was spent in development, establishing an interfaith network of counsellors and psychotherapists, raising awareness in the diocese and creating training programmes. The project also launched a website containing information and signposting for survivors as well as for clergy and professionals supporting them.

The project has been working closely with the Faith and VAWG Coalition and the Christian charity Restored as well as other organisations such as Jewish Women’s Aid and the Association of Christian Counsellors.

Two training programmes have now begun: one for Catholic clergy, religious sisters and spiritual directors; and one for counsellors, psychotherapists and other helping professionals. A version of this training is available in British Sign Language in conjunction with Signs of Hope Deaf Counselling Service, for Deaf counsellors and psychotherapists working with trauma and faith issues.

We are working on the production of a directory of trained Catholic clergy, religious and spiritual directors who can offer traumainformed spiritual guidance and signposting for domestic abuse survivors, and an interfaith directory of trauma-informed, faith-literate counsellors and psychotherapists so that survivors will be able to access support which meets their faith needs. We aim to develop a peer support programme in 2024.

Imagining Bright Futures Outreach to Schools

What do you want the world to look like in 2032?

Teachers were given all the resources they needed to run the project, which was launched in September 2022 – including lesson plans on Catholic Social Teaching.

One teacher at St Michael’s Primary School in Ashford, reported that:

space”

“More trees, more bushes”

What could be improved in your local community?

“Less cars more buses”

“Lots more swings and happy people”

“We need people to come together more”

How will people act differently?

“People could help the poor and bring more peace to the world”

“People can have jokes”

“People respect each other”

“I think people will be happier”

These are some of the answers given by primary school children as part of our Imagining Futures programme.

Imagining Futures was designed by Caritas Westminster as part of our tenth anniversary celebrations, to encourage young people to have ambitious visions for the next ten years, and to take small steps to make changes in their world, through heads, hearts and hands.

“The children have been creative in portraying their ideal futures through art, models and written work. It has given them the opportunity to really think about how we can make our world a better place. The children have understood and used the Catholic Social Teaching Principles to think about their ideal futures and what they can do as a school to help those in need. It has made them think about the small steps they can take towards an ideal future.”

“Keep our ocean clean for ever and ever”

“I think there will be less pollution and more green

nursery and reception decided that we need more electric cars on the road. The teacher reported:

“When we researched this idea further we discovered that electric cars do not produce harmful fumes into the air that we breathe. We made this electric car using a big box, lollypop sticks, paper plates, stickers, paper, lots of fun and even more mess.”

Caritas Ambassadors

Our ongoing Catholic Social Teaching programme for school children, Caritas Ambassadors, is going from strength to strength. It was completed by 16 schools in the school year ending in 2022. Thirty schools signed up to Caritas Ambassadors for the school year 2022-23.

This programme was described by Tom Booth, assistant headteacher at St John XXIII school in White City, as “Hugely rewarding for the children involved but also for the teachers and for the school community as a whole.

“The resources for the programme were fantastic, they were very usable, … they were extremely interactive and allowed the children to create their own conversation and lead a lot of the lessons in whatever way they saw fit”.

After learning about the six aspects of Catholic Social Teaching, children then develop a project to bring a real benefit to their community.

Mr Booth continued: “The children in our school are aware of what social justice means, and they don’t see it as something set in stone. They will challenge injustices and will do something to make their local area a better place.”

To find out about our resources for schools, visit www.caritaswestminster.org.uk/ schools.php

Mr Booth with some of the Ambassadors in year 5

The art on this page was created by artists with intellectual disabilities attending the Caritas St Joseph’s connect@Hounslow hub. It was exhibited at Syon House in Brentford in the Autumn. The works were made in weekly sessions over several years. Each session began by the group looking at and responding to the work of different artists before returning to their own themes. With the help of carers and volunteers, the artists work across ceramics, oil pastel and watercolour to develop their process, crafting their own distinct visual language. The exhibition was organised as part of Hounslow Borough Council’s Summer of Culture.

Contact us:

caritaswestminster@rcdow.org.uk twitter.com/CaritasWestm facebook.com/CaritasWestminster Instagram.com/caritas_westminster www.caritaswestminster.org.uk

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Circles by Faiza Mir

Untitled by Rosemary Mahoney

Rachel’s picture based on Kandinsky Triangles

The Moon by Alexander Harrison