SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL (Patchway)

The Society of St Vincent de Paul

The Society of St Vincent de Paul is an organization that tries to help people in need. It was started 175 years ago by young students, not content to just talk about Christian charity but to put it into action through person to person contact. In England and Wales last year, its members made around 600,000 recorded visits, being the hands and feet of Christ in our our community.

Although much of the SVP’s work involves visiting the elderly and housebound, its activities go way beyond. They collect furniture that would otherwise go to landfill, repairing it and distributing it to families, protecting the planet and helping families to cope. There is an expanding programme of Community Shops on housing estates, providing low income families with affordable clothing and furniture. The SVP organizes Camps for children who would not otherwise have a holiday and can even offer a limited number of family holidays. The SVP in England and Wales is twinned to India, Sudan, Grenada, Guyana and Rumania.

The Holy Family SVP group meets on Thursday evenings to pray and to plan visits to people in the area. During Advent each year the parish collects goods and food which are arranged into hampers to be distributed to the most needy in time for Christmas.

For more information contact-

          Deacon Don Cramer-Barnicoat     0117 9698124

          Sr Hidegard                                     0117 9315662

Or Fr Eugene