Westminster Record April 2017 by RCWestminster

Westminster Record | April 2017

Telco at 20

They were here 20 years ago. They are here 20 years later.

by Bekele Woyecha

Fantastic Fan Supports Manchester United and Cafod’s Work in Africa! Sophie Constable, from Holy Family Church in Welwyn Garden City, has generously auctioned a Manchester United shirt signed by 16 players to raise money for CAFOD. The winning bid was a fabulous £500, which will be used to support communities affected by severe drought in Ethiopia. As a member of United’s Disabled Supporters’ Association (MUDSA), Sophie, 26, who has been an altar server at Holy Family for 18 years, was lucky enough to attend MUDSA’s Christmas party at Old Trafford. Sophie encouraged players to sign a United shirt she’d bought, offering them some of her homemade Christmas Puttini bonbons in return; Anthony Martial declared that they were ‘delicieux’! Describing her experience meeting the players, Sophie said: ‘It was definitely exciting, I was really happy. I loved meeting all of them. My favourite is Paul Pogba, and I also like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.’ Instead of keeping the shirt herself, Sophie auctioned it to raise money for a community in Ethiopia which her parish supports. Sebeya in northern Ethiopia is dry and arid having suffered greatly from the current drought, the worst in Ethiopia for decades. CAFOD works in the area with its partner Adigrat Diocese Catholic Secretariat (ADCS), running schemes that focus on soil and water conservation, and irrigation. Sophie said: ‘I wanted to do this because it’s about putting other people before yourself and because I love Africa so much.’ In March CAFOD launched its East Africa Crisis Appeal. Over 16 million people across South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are affected by severe

drought and in urgent need of food. Sophie’s generosity and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Africa will hopefully inspire others in the Catholic community to give generously. The Holy Family CAFOD Group in Sophie’s parish gives ongoing support to Sebaya in Ethiopia through CAFOD’s Connect2 Scheme. The scheme enables parish groups to form a direct link with a community in one of five countries. The special connection involves not just fundraising but exchanging news and seasonal greetings with the parish’s Connect2 community, and also praying for each other throughout the year. Other than Ethiopia, the communities which parish groups can ‘connect2’ in this special way through CAFOD are in Peru, Brazil, El Salvador and Cambodia. Whilst Connect2 Ethiopia focuses on soil and irrigation projects, Connect2 Brazil supports communities in São Paulo to campaign for homeless families to have safe housing. Connect2 Peru supports local partner Warmi Huasi to provide skills-building and training for children in the Lomas de Carabayllo area of Lima. To find out more about CAFOD’s Connect2 Scheme please visit www.cafod.org.uk/Connect2, or call CAFOD’s Westminster Volunteer Centre on 0208 449 6970. To donate to CAFOD’s East Africa Crisis Appeal go to www.cafod.org.uk/eastafrica, or call 0303 303 3030. CAFOD is immensely grateful for Sophie’s generosity, and for the dedication of the Holy Family CAFOD Group which has been supporting CAFOD’s work in different parts of the world for over thirty years!

Twenty years ago there was an organiser called Neil Jameson, who had as many face to face meetings as possible in East London. He had no hidden agenda; it was all about getting the East End organised. ‘Organising was what East London needed most in those days as it does now,’ says Bishop Paul McAleenan, who was Parish Priest of St Scholastica’s in Clapton and is now Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Westminster. Bishop Paul was there 20 years ago at the founding assembly and he has come back to join the 1,000-strong delegates to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The East London Citizens Organisation (TELCO). The founding assembly took place at York Hall in Bethnal Green and it felt great for many, including Rev Paul Regan, Mgr John Armitage, who was cochair of the founding assembly, Dr Muhammad Bari, and many other veterans to come back to the same hall on Thursday 9th March to witness history unfolding. It was an opportunity to see democracy in action; an opportunity to see unity in diversity; an opportunity to showcase what civil society can do to address the challenges it faces in an organised way; an opportunity to see civil society holding the state and the market to account; but also an opportunity to rebuild and reenergise the East End and start yet another march towards securing social justice through organising. ‘Divisions in our societies across the West seem to be deepening. Yet we are here this evening to recognise TELCO as an organisation which has built bridges, not walls, explained Rev Paul Regan. Organising needs patience, endurance, tenacity, leadership, and it should be fun. That was what we saw on 9th of March. At the heart of this anniversary were the organisers and community leaders who worked hard to make sure everything was in place. Nothing was left to chance and every eventuality was considered. It needed meticulous planning and readiness with proper fall-back positions. That

is why we had organisers like Emmanuel, Yasmin, Caitlin and Daniel, Bernadette Harris of TELCO, John and Naomi Clifton of the East End, Angus Ritchie, and many other veteran leaders who worked meticulously to plan this wonderful occasion. After all it is about organising. Organising is not about them; rather, it is about US together. Neil Jameson, the Founder and Executive Director of Citizens UK, paid tribute to all who made the long journey with TELCO: ‘Our member institutions are our greatest asset and our leaders are the glue which hold everything together. Here is to 20 more years of power, action and justice’. Kudos to all who made the founding of TELCO a success 20 years ago. Kudos to all who have travelled the long journey together. Kudos to all who contributed and made the day historical. Kudos to the kids, the young, the seniors and all who made it to the assembly. Organise, organise and organise. It was the call then; it is the call now. Keep organising, keep marching together and of course keep winning. Empowered are the organised! It all began with the need for a pedestrian crossing in Clapton. The parish of St Scholastica’s, along with other Catholic parishes, Christian communities, and others of all faiths and none in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, banded together to form TELCO, to campaign for local needs, especially for some of the most marginalised people in East London. Among their landmark victories was obtaining a fair wage for cleaners in Canary Follow us on Instagram at: @rcwestminster

Trade Justice by Barbara Kentish

There was good cause for celebration during Fairtrade Fortnight this year as there are now 95 parishes out of 214 in our diocese signed up to Fairtrade. Supporting Fairtrade gives producers from small farms and cooperatives a fair price for their goods, and a chance to improve their lives. Justice and Peace held two gatherings, at St Anselm and Cecilia, Holborn, and Our Lady Immaculate and St Andrew, Hitchin, on the theme of ‘Free Trade and Fairtrade: Towards trade justice in the Post-Brexit era’. Mary Milne and Emilie Schultze from the charity Traidcraft explained how important it is that Britain continue to work with developing countries to ensure they are represented on the international trade scene.

Traidcraft supports growers and producers develop their goods and communities. It is currently running a card campaign to encourage us to contact our MPs about justice for small farmers who produce Fairtrade goods. Marion Hill, a ‘Fairtrade trader’ from Haverstock Hill parish, kindly ran a stall offering their goods. If your parish has not signed up, do get in touch for a pack explaining what is needed. Wharf, first for those employed by the management of the estate, and then for those who worked directly for the banks. Their campaign eventually turned into a movement to pay the Living Wage in London and the rest of the UK. Since then, they have also campaigned for a Living Wage Olympics, better access to jobs for locals, and affordable housing schemes. Today, TELCO is part of CitizensUK, which boasts among its membership groups from all faiths and none, and continues to work for some of the most marginalised people in society. Page 15