OUR LADY OF LOURDES
JUSTICE & PEACE
We meet formally about once a quarter and informally on the first Saturday of each month in the church car park for food bank services.
The Justice and Peace group is committed to working against oppression, poverty, and injustice, both at home and abroad. The group meets monthly and seeks to highlight issues and raise awareness, organise events and raise funds. The group has links with a number of organisations including: Lewisham Foodbank, and CAFOD.
The group has been operating in the Parish since 2006. We are a small group, but very well supported within the Parish. Each year we agree our priorities in light of current local or international issues, and respond as necessary to issues that come up during the year. We focus on a mix of local and international issues in 3 strands of activity:
1. PRAYER
- Establishing a corner for prayer and reflection during the year of prayer for peace.
- Holocaust memorial service
- Peace service and planting of olive trees in church garden
- Stations of the Cross focused on the needs of migrants
2. PRACTICAL SUPPORY & FUNDRAISING
- Work with the Jesuit Refugee Services - supermarket voucher exchange scheme, toiletries and baby products collections
- Community lunches to raise money for disaster appeals
- Parish twinning
- Food bank collections
3. RAISING AWARENESS & CAMPAIGNING
- Ethical shopping - Promoting fair trade
Humanitarian crisis in Palestine - petitions, talks
- Environmental concerns - clean water campaign, climate change
LIVE SIMPLY
We are a Live Simply Parish
We are a Live Simply Parish, achieving the award in 2016 by demonstrating our commitment and action in three areas: Living Simply, Living Sustainably, and Living in Solidarity. We were the 3rd Parish in Southwark to achieve the award, and the 21st across the country. It is important that we continue to strive for improvement in each of these areas.
NEW MEMBERS
We welcome new members and if you share our values and wish to join the group, we would be delighted to see you. Speak to any of our members or come along to a meeting. We meet formally about once a quarter, and informally on the first Saturday of each month in the church car park for food bank collections.
Group members:
Kathy Salmon, Linda Carton, Eleanor McGill, Sharon McQuarrie, Ali Ryan, Jillie Smithies
To contact us drop an email in the first instance to the parish address lee@rcaos.org.uk