Caritas Westminster Annual Review 2019

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Highlights 183

people were registered as students at St Joseph’s at the end of 2019

26 An average of

105

75

people attended a signed liturgy each month.

parish visiting groups supporting the isolated in their communities

29 7017

entrepreneurs helped to build up their skills and confidence to run small enterprises

drop-in centres connected with parishes offered food and other support to the homeless

meals given out by the Felix Project through Caritas Food Collective* *based on weight of food given out and average weight of a meal

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

2019 – A snapshot

Dear Friends and Supporters, As I write this, in the Autumn of 2020, it is increasingly hard to remember back to 2019. Less than a year ago, but a world away!

We are now living in very different times. But our priorities remain the same.

We are doing our best to promote the values that Christ has taught us, through his life and through the teaching of his Church.

In 2020 we have had to respond in very different ways to the needs around us. Life as we knew it stopped for a while, along with less important projects like writing annual reviews. And yet it would be a shame not to stop and call to mind all our activities of last year.

We present here, a snapshot of Caritas Westminster in 2019, to celebrate all that was achieved – the projects began back then have had to change but nothing has been wasted – our aspirations remain the same. The teams we built up and everything we learnt, are what enabled us to approach the challenges of 2020 with confidence.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, Chair of Caritas Page 3

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

An overview of Caritas Westminster Caritas Westminster’s aim is to promote human dignity. Our mission is to encourage and enable individuals, community groups and parishes in the diocese to run social action projects responding to the needs in their own local area.

In 2019 Caritas Westminster continued running six services directly: Caritas Bakhita House Caritas St Joseph’s SEIDS Westminster Deaf Service The St John Southworth fund Caritas Volunteer Service Much more happens at a local level, where we support parishes, schools and other community groups to run projects which address local need.

These include foodbanks, refugee support projects, night shelters for the homeless and befriending projects for the lonely or elderly.

Our projects can be recognised by four distinct values: the aim to meet basic human need; ttention given to the development of each person’s a potential; f ostering community, inclusion and engagement (of both volunteers and those we seek to serve); and t he imperative to bring about a fairer society, based on the equal dignity of all people.

Page 4

We work across the whole of Westminster Diocese – that is, North London and Hertfordshire. To enable us to support this work effectively, we have divided the Diocese into seven hubs each with a dedicated Development Worker who can advise and support volunteers and clergy. And in 2019 a new project was set up – the Caritas Food Collective.

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster Services

Caritas St Joseph’s This Lifelong Learning Centre for adults with intellectual disabilities opened more than 40 years ago and was brought under the Caritas umbrella in 2014. At the end of 2019 there were 183 students enrolled and the courses on offer ranged from computing, to music and life skills.

One course, Living and Giving, taught the students the values of love, fairness and community that are key to Catholic Social Teaching but are universal values.

Students come from all faith and cultural backgrounds and are taught to respect themselves and each other.

183 people were registered as students at St Joseph’s at the end of 2019

In addition to the St Joseph’s pastoral centre in Hendon, there were two “hubs”, in Hounslow and Feltham which opened for a day each week offering 5 classes to 16 pupils.

Caritas Westminster supported 14 parishes to run a disability support group or social club

Page 6

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster Services

Caritas Bakhita House This safe house for women who have been rescued from trafficking or from modern slavery hosted 17 guests in 2019. The Staff and volunteers provide much more than the basic needs of food, accommodation and safety. Bakhita House is a real community of support – the women eat together each day, taking it in turns to cook.

They are enabled to gradually move towards independent living without fear.

Our work on trafficking and slavery is not confined to the walls of Bakhita House. We work with partners such as the Human Trafficking Foundation, AntiSlavery International, The London Modern Slavery Partnership Board (Mayors office) and many others to advocate for stronger laws and more joined up working across the globe.

We work alongside many others supporting victims, such as, Saint John Of God Hospitaller Services, The Medaille Trust, The Salvation Army and Hestia to enhance victim care.

And we support guests and former guests of Bakhita House as they bring their abusers to justice.

During 2019. thanks to evidence from 18 women, four people were imprisoned for Trafficking and Controlling Prostitution for a total of 31.5 years.

In the Autumn of 2019 four women received the good news that they are able to remain in the UK for 5 years – giving them peace of mind and a status which means they have the right to claim benefits, access the NHS and the ability to study or work.

Page 8

One of these ladies, whom we shall call Dinithi, left her son and her mother in her native Sri Lanka, for a promised job as a nanny in Pakistan. However, once she arrived, her employer told her that she owed him the cost of the flight and the visa, and would not let her leave – keeping her passport from her. As well as caring for a baby, she was made to do domestic work, and given no time off.

Her break came when she accompanied her employer on a family holiday to the UK. Whilst in London she managed to escape and find help.

Dinithi found a safe home at Bakhita House, counselling to deal with trauma, and therapeutic activities such as going to the cinema, visiting the beach in summer and yoga.

Gradually Dinithi found a way to take control over her own life – for some women in the house this starts with small steps like cooking meals for the other guests and shopping for their own clothes. Dinithi stayed at Bakhita House for nearly a year, in 20152016, but continued to receive support after leaving.

Three years later, she was finally given the Five Years Leave to Remain that she had applied for. This was a great step forward for Dinithi – all she ever wanted to do was to earn some money to send home to her family, and now she has the chance to do this.

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster Services

SEIDS In September 2019, SEIDS Hub celebrated its first birthday and launched its Start Up Business Programme, helping 26 entrepreneurs build up their skills and confidence to run small enterprises. This followed a year of offering business support to people on a more ad-hoc basis, as well as providing office space and meeting rooms. The programme is grateful for the help of 16 volunteer mentors who provide one to one support to those on the course.

In November the first SEIDS member, Amanda Epe, won a Pride of Brent award for her enterprise “Fly Girls”. Fly Girls is a ladies’ running group with a difference. It is cross generational – being open to girls over the age of 14 and women, and everyone runs, jogs, walks at their own speed. The mission is more than fitness, Amanda also runs book clubs and creative writing workshops, all with the same aim of supporting and empowering girls and women.

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster Services

Caritas Volunteer Service This is the part of Caritas Westminster which serves all the other projects – and more. Through a specially designed web page, the Volunteer Service matches potential volunteers with charities who need help.

A total of 69 parishes and charities and 945 volunteers had signed up by the end of 2019. The wide range of voluntary roles advertised included chefs, web designers, charity shop workers, English teachers, befrienders and trustees.

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster Services

Westminster Deaf Service The Deaf Service continued its programme of enabling the Catholic Deaf community to participate in the liturgy. In 2019 we organised 47 Masses signed by priests and 16 sign-interpreted liturgies, with the sacrament of reconciliation being offered in sign language before the monthly Deaf Mass in the Cathedral Hall. An average of 75 people attended a signed liturgy each month.

Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language (BSL) taster courses were run in various parishes throughout the year with 24 people completing BSL taster courses and 26 attending Deaf Awareness sessions. Support and teaching of BSL was also provided to 10 clergy who work with the Deaf Community.

The Deaf Service also supported Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing people by visiting the sick and those in care homes, who can be very isolated without information or support in sign language. We ran a monthly support group for older Deaf people as well as regular events to help Deaf people grow in their faith, such as bible studies A retreat on a canal boat on the river Stort proved to be so popular a second trip was organised. 22 people from Westminster and Brentwood dioceses went to the annual Walsingham pilgrimage in May. The Deaf Service also offer a counselling service called Signs of Hope, which supported 19 clients during the year. At the beginning of 2019 there were a number of suicides of young males in the Deaf community so the Deaf Service took to social media to advertise their counselling service and give advice to anyone, Deaf or hearing, who may be struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts.

Page 12

75

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Supporting Local Action As we aim to help individuals in the Diocese of Westminster to create inclusive and caring communities, so outreach to parishes is a cornerstone of our work.

This outreach is supported by our structure of seven Hubs and strengthened by the Caritas Representatives, a growing group of individuals who bring the messages of Caritas Westminster directly to their parishes. This initiative began to take shape at the end of 2019 and the first reps came forward at the beginning of 2020.

By the end of 2019 each of the seven geographical hubs had an appointed Development Worker. These staff members give advice, signpost to funding and other support, and run training and other community events. The fruit of this work is the number of parishes, schools and other community groups involved in social action projects.

869

social action projects of all kinds were running in the diocese (that Caritas was aware of)

105

parish visiting groups supporting the isolated in their communities

15 parishes ran food banks 72 parishes supported food banks jointly with other organisations

Fundraising concert

Youth inclusion

Caritas Westminster helped organise events including:

22

The ecological crisis

Volunteering

Symbols of faith training – to help those with learning disabilities to access the Sacraments

Page 14

75

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Responding to Need

Caritas Food Collective In February 2019 we launched a new project in response to an issue which was close to Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ heart: food poverty. One main aim was to find ways of bridging the hunger gap –when children who would normally receive Free School Meals are in danger of not eating properly in the holidays.

Our family holiday clubs were launched in October 2019 feeding nearly 300 people and 103 adults at seven centres across the diocese. Information was provided on different topics for parents and children were also given the chance to have some fun, doing sport or craft activities in a social environment they might not get outside of school.

Feedback from the seven Holiday Clubs was almost entirely positive. Many parents commented that their children might have been stuck inside playing computer games, but instead were socialising and being creative. One mum said “I enjoyed the way my child was engaged into activities. Not a single dull moment.”

Another parent told us that her son had been ill and stuck at home for 2 months. “This holiday club gave him an outing and enjoyment” Each club was run with the support of numerous volunteers, who worked in the kitchens or helped with the children’s activities. Volunteers told us that they had a fulfilling day, saying “It was a privilege to be involved” and that it was “good in terms of actively bringing out our faith”.

Page 16

The Holiday clubs were successfully repeated in the February half term of 2020.

We worked with a food rescue charity called the Felix Project – donations of unsellable but edible food were provided at all the holiday clubs, and at schools and parishes.

7 holiday clubs were run in October half term 7017 meals given out by the Felix Project

through Caritas Food Collective (based on weight of food given out and average weight of a meal)

190

children and

103 adults attended the

October holiday clubs

15 parishes were running their own food banks.

53

schools and parishes used our Advent Giving Calendar collecting essentials for their local food project.

75

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Responding to Need

Feed Up Warm Up! Feed Up Warm Up is a testament to what a community can do when it comes together. It began as a soup kitchen in Hitchin in the winter of 2018/19 but quickly grew in response to need. Drop ins continued throughout the year and a second one soon opened in Letchworth too.

The weekly drop-ins offered: f ree hot meals supplied by different local restaurants, free haircuts, clothes bank including sleeping bags/tents, f resh food on best before dates supplied by Sainsburys, free chiropody treatments, counselling and signposting, Citizens Advice live music!

By the end of 2019 approximately 130 clients were registered between Hitchin and Stevenage. Around 60% of the clients were street homeless and the other 40% are living in poverty and struggling with the new Universal Credit System. With the help of FUWU several clients found full time work and several moved into permanent accommodation. The project works closely with other agencies including CAP (Christians Against Poverty) in supporting individuals onto life skills and back to work programmes.

Page 18

Feed Up Warm up has been supported by Caritas Westminster from the beginning, and our Development Worker for North Hertfordshire, Liz Wills, remains strongly involved. After raising funds for a van, the project was able to reach other rough sleepers and inadequately housed people across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

The success of this project in bringing the community together is down to the vision of one man, Shane Cole.

As a young man, Shane himself received help when he was homeless and struggling with addiction. He says: “When I was 17 and not long out of foster care, I was on the streets over Christmas. I have never been in a position until now to be able to help. I feel like I’m on the same page as our clients and who better to comfort and care for people going through a difficult time than my self who’s been there .”

Across the Diocese

30

parishes hosted or supported the running of Night Shelters for the homeless – meeting immediate needs and helping people access long-term support.

29 drop-in centres connected with parishes

offered food and other support to the homeless

75

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Responding to Need

Getting Knives off the Streets In the twelve months up to March 2020 the metropolitan police recorded over 15,000 crimes involving knives, including 84 homicides.

In 2019 we supported three churches to set up knife amnesty bins in partnership with Word4Weapons. At Our Lady of Lourdes Harrow Road, 32 knives and other blades were collected – a hopeful sign as every knife off the streets is potentially one life saved.

Page 20

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Responding to Need

Life changing grants Caritas Westminster manages the St John Southworth fund, itself an amalgamation of a number of pre-existing funds and legacies which were provided to alleviate hardship in the diocese.

Three different kinds of grant are available:

[not their real names]

he crisis grant – to which parishes can apply for T assistance for any people facing extreme hardship. In 2019, 39 families or individuals were assisted in this way, with a total of £40,000 uneral grants – as the name suggests these F are specifically for paying for the expenses of a funeral where the family cannot afford it, allowing their beloved deceased some dignity in death. 41 grants were awarded in 2019, a total of £61,000, from a fund, the donor of which wishes to remain anonymous. roject grants – which are awarded to parish groups P wishing to set up social action projects. 12 grants were awarded in 2019, totalling £87,000 Thanks to support from the St John Southworth grants, Joan, a vulnerable elderly woman with mental health concerns, no longer faces eviction; Ann, whose house was ransacked in a violent robbery, has a new kitchen.

Mary, a victim of domestic abuse, has been helped to set up in a new safe home.

George and Martha, whose son was shot and killed, were able to pay for his funeral.

Page 21

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

The Why: inspiring communities with Catholic Social Teaching Our Christian Faith underpins Why we do what we do, and the teaching of the Catholic Church informs how we do it. All our projects seek to uphold the dignity of the person and give voice to the poor.

Learning more about Catholic Social Teaching can inspire a parish to action, and help them meet an immediate physical need, such as hunger or homelessness, in a spirit of community which acknowledges every individual as a child of God and avoids any sense of “us and them”.

We work with parishes to raise awareness of Catholic Social Teaching, through our Love in Action programme, a course which allows the whole parish to get involved, and covers six themes of the church’s teaching in a deep and practical way.

During 2019 we established the Caritas Ambassadors programme, which allows a class or small group of children to learn about Catholic Social Teaching in greater depth, and explore ways in which their school can contribute to social outreach projects in their community. By the end of the year nine schools were enrolled in this programme.

Team members love to run assemblies about aspects of Catholic Social Teaching and the work of Caritas, and have also done some inset training with teaching staff. These schools have continued to teach Catholic Social Teaching, and several then engaged with us in other ways, whether fundraising, running Caritas Ambassadors, or working with the Caritas Food Collective to host a Holiday Club.

Page 22

47schools were working with Caritas Westminster 9 schools were running Caritas Ambassadors In November 75 pupils from 6 Catholic and 3 Jewish schools came together to celebrate Mitzvah Day and the World Day of the Poor, in partnership with the SVP. They put together 400 “Vinnie packs” containing essential supplies for rough sleepers.

Caritas Westminster 2019 Annual Review

Caritas Westminster would like to thank our many partners and supporters, including:

Justice and Peace

Page 23

Registered Charity No. 233699

Contact us: twitter.com/CaritasWestm facebook.com/CaritasWestminster Instagram.com/caritas_westminster www.caritaswestminster.org.uk Caritas Westminster seeks to bring about a world where everyone lives a life of dignity and worth.

Thank you for your support.

With thanks for the contribution and support of the Caritas Advisory Board Bhp Paul McAleenan (Chair), Andrew Ndoca, Fr Mark Woodruff, Sarah Macken, Siobhan Garibaldi, Daniel Belloso, Mick McAteer and Paolo Camoletto