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Mums the Word Just when we thought things were getting better, it has all started again. When we first went into lockdown my family decided it wasn’t safe for me and my husband to stay at home as we had three family members working on the front line and coming home each evening. We were evacuated to Meols. This was very upsetting for me as I get homesick if I am away more than 10 days but they said it would only be for two weeks. It reminded me of war time when the children were evacuated and instead of a gas mask we had our face masks. We didn’t go to stay with strangers, though, but with my sister Barbara and her husband Phil. The two weeks turned out to be six and I can’t believe I lasted that long. Each day we would walk along the beach from Meols to West Kirkby which took about two hours there and back. We entertained ourselves with jigsaws and quizzes and made videos to send home. Every day my sister and I would pray the rosary followed by a livestreamed Mass at Our Lady’s, Lydiate. This prayerful time really helped us to stay strong and get through lockdown. I recorded everything we did each day in a diary so that one day I can look back and say, ‘That’s what I did during the 2020 lockdown’. • Our next bi-monthly Mass is on 18 November at St Margaret Mary’s. This will be live-streamed so anyone not able to attend can watch virtually. The last one had 950 views, so we need to try and top this. We will be praying for our deceased members and for Liverpool Archdiocese especially as we enter into more restrictions. Take care everyone and stay safe, Maureen Finnegan, Archdiocesan president
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Catholic Pictorial
A century of service News from the Liverpool Province of the Knights of St Columba
Veteran Knight completes Alzheimer’s sponsored walk
It is with great pleasure that we report the outstanding efforts of Brother Frank Redmond, our former supreme knight and council 9 member, in raising more than £3,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society. Frank, who celebrated his 90th birthday on 29 October, completed a five-mile walk in September to help raise funds for dementia care and, more specifically, for the care home in which his dear wife Ann has been a long-time resident. Frank undertook his walk along Otterspool Promenade, accompanied by his daughter Sue. He succeeded in raising this impressive total thanks to support from family, friends and fellow KSC members. The fund-raising venture has been enabled by the Just Giving website and if any readers wish to make a contribution, they should visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/re dmond-care-home.
Here in Liverpool we are very proud of Frank's achievement and we feel certain that all fellow members of the order will feel the same way when they hear of it. Brother Ray Pealing, the provincial grand knight, has sent him an email congratulating him on behalf of all brothers in the province. Ray also indicated that we all share Frank's pain at not being able to see Ann in the nursing home. Frank and his family were unable to visit her for six months due to the restrictions imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. When these curbs were briefly lifted, they could make one visit before further restrictions were imposed. In his email, Ray sent prayers for the day when this dreaded virus leaves us and allows Frank to be together with Ann once more. Websites: www.ksc.org.uk www.kscprov02.weebly.com Email: dpokeane@aol.com